The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of restraining the extension of the institution--the power to insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil which is now free from slavery.
In his Cooper Union Address, Lincoln asserts the federal government's constitutional power to prevent the spread of slavery into new territories.
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More from Abraham Lincoln
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
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