What Would Lincoln and Douglas Say?
by Jeff Lukens The scathing bitterness between the Left and Right over Iraq and the war on terror is one of the worst schisms in American history. Perhaps only the pre-Civil War clash between slavery and state’s rights was worse. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were at the center of that rift. If they were here today, what would they think of this controversy and its effect on the nation? Lincoln and Douglas had opposed each other for years. Then in 1858, Douglas came up for reelection for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Lincoln was nominated by the Republican Party to oppose him. Lincoln said in his acceptance speech before the Republican state convention, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.” Lincoln’s words proved to be p
What Would Lincoln and Douglas Say?