They look upon it as being a moral, social, and political wrong; and while they contemplate it as such, they nevertheless have due regard for its actual existence among us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations thrown about it.
In the final debate with Stephen Douglas, Lincoln articulated the Republican Party's complex stance on slavery, acknowledging it as a wrong while respecting its constitutional protections and the challenges of its eradication.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no organized organ for us to treat with,--no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man.
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
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