I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution, all together.
In a letter explaining his wartime policies, Lincoln asserts that preserving the nation and its founding document took precedence over protecting slavery.
Share
More from Abraham Lincoln
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand 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 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.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
Other voices in this conversation
