Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you.
From his first inaugural address, Lincoln warned that war would not resolve the underlying issues between the states, only postpone them.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.
Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?
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