On the record
He feared that the Southern mind was in the condition in which a single untoward circumstance might precipitate a conflict, and he determined that the blood of his brethren should not be on his hands.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “He feared that the Southern mind was in the condition in which a single untoward circumstance might precipitate a…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine discusses Lincoln's fear of a sudden conflict and his determination to avoid bloodshed.
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More from James Blaine
Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to carry on a contest like that?
All these provisions are made to protect the States, not to authorize an attack by one part of the country upon another; to preserve the peace, and not to plunge them into civil war.
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.
The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.
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