As those fathers marked it, so let it again be marked, as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection a necessity.
In his Cooper Union Address, Lincoln defines the Republican position on slavery, viewing it as an evil to be contained rather than expanded, tolerated only out of necessity.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
As a general rule I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an answer.
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
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 I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.
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