I have said very many times in Judge Douglas's hearing that no man believed more than I in the principle of self-government; that it lies at the bottom of all my ideas of just government from beginning to end.
Speaking in a debate, Lincoln asserts his fundamental belief in the principle of self-government as the basis for all just governance.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.
To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan, is our duty.
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
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.
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