Under the Dred Scott decision, "squatter sovereignty" squatted out of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding; like the mould at the foundry, it served through one blast, and fell back into loose sand,--helped to carry an election, and then was kicked to the winds.
In his "House Divided" speech, Lincoln uses vivid imagery to describe how the Dred Scott decision rendered the concept of popular sovereignty ineffective.
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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.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
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