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 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.
Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
Let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued favor of Almighty God.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.
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