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Abraham Lincoln's A House Divided

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There are many factors that led up to the American Civil War. One of the main causes was the conflict that arose from the North and South’s opposing views of slavery. In Abraham Lincoln’s “A House Divided” speech he said, “In my opinion, [slavery] will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’” (A House Divided 511). This quote was a prediction and antecedent to what would later be known in history as the American Civil War. The people of the North viewed the idea of slavery as morally wrong and stood for the abolition of slavery and the unity of America. They believed that the drafters of the American Constitution wrote the document after carefully considering any topic that could potentially tear …show more content…

This is all Republicans ask—all Republicans desire—in relation to slavery” (Address at Cooper Institute 551). Not all who were against the South were against slavery. Some people only wanted the United States to be just that: united. Though Abraham Lincoln is known as a hero in the books, some believe that even he cared more for the preservation of the union than the emancipation of the slaves. In his Address at Cooper Institute, President Lincoln suggested that the Republicans consider (and possibly deliver) the requests of the pro-slavery side. “It is exceedingly desirable that all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and ill temper. Even though the southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate view of our duty, we possibly can” (Address at Cooper

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