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.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.
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.
I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.
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