By the same right as, and no higher or greater than, slavery is seeking dominion in Kansas: by political force--peaceful, if that will suffice; by the torch (as in Kansas) and the bludgeon (as in the Senate chamber), if required.
In an 1856 speech, Lincoln explains that slavery's existence and expansion are maintained by political force and violence.
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I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.
I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.
He said, with a great deal of emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget: "When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there is no…
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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