Here I found that the debaters had split hairs on what the fathers had
done. "Why can't these agitators leave the states as they were made by
the fathers, slave and free?" asked Douglas. "They were not made,"
retorted Lincoln, "they were found; slavery was found and was let be as
it was." "No," said Douglas, "the fathers organized a republic, adopted
a Constitution; and when they made it, instead of abolishing slavery,
making it free, they kept slavery and made it slave by the votes of
states passing upon and acceding to an instrument of government. And
besides, this instrument of government provided for the importation of
more slaves from Africa; and provided for the capture and return of
fugitive slaves now in the country or thereafter to be imported into the
country."
Douglas had attacked the doctrine of a divided house with all possible
power and brilliancy. He had insisted that there was no more reason for
the house of America to be divided because there was negro slavery in
some states and no slavery in others, than because there was prohibition
in Maine and whisky in Kentucky. And that there would be disunion if
some states warred on other states about the purely domestic affairs of
the latter. This was the only sense in which the house could be divided,
and caused to fall.
Pages:
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404