On the record
But the plea carried with it a national guaranty and protection of slavery on the southern side of the line, and its effect would inevitably have been in a few years to divide the Republic from ocean to ocean.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “But the plea carried with it a national guaranty and protection of slavery on the southern side of the line, and its…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine warns about the potential consequences of a proposed compromise that would protect slavery, highlighting its divisive nature.
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More from James Blaine
But this is a totally different thing from an offensive war to punish the people for the political misdeeds of their State Government, or to enforce an acknowledgment that the Government of the United States is supreme.
Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
The States are colleagues of one another, and if some of them shall conquer the rest, and hold them as subjugated provinces, it would totally destroy the whole theory upon which they are now connected.
You can use force only to repel an assault on the public property and aid the Courts in the performance of their duty.
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