On the record
The Democratic doctrine of the North and the Democratic doctrine of the South were, therefore, in logic and in fact, irreconcilably hostile.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “The Democratic doctrine of the North and the Democratic doctrine of the South were, therefore, in logic and in fact…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine highlights the fundamental division within the Democratic Party regarding slavery during the pre-Civil War era.
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More from James Blaine
And if Congress shall break up the present Union by unconstitutionally putting strife and enmity and armed hostility between different sections of the country, instead of the domestic tranquility which the Constitution was meant to insure…
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.
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.
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