The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln — Volume 3: The Lincoln-Douglas DebatesLincoln, Abraham
History
The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln — Volume 3: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln, Abraham
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Ill., 1858
is all the same old serpent; and I hold, if that course of argumentation
that is made for the purpose of convincing the public mind that we should
not care about this should be granted, it does not stop with the negro. I
should like to know, if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which
declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to
it, where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a negro, why not
another say it does not mean some other man? If that Declaration is not
the truth, let us get the statute book, in which we find it, and tear it
out! Who is so bold as to do it? If it is not true, let us tear it out!
[Cries of "No, no."] Let us stick to it, then; let us stand firmly by it,
then.
It may be argued that there are certain conditions that make necessities
and impose them upon us; and to the extent that a necessity is imposed
upon a man, he must submit to it. I think that was the condition in which
we found ourselves when we established this government. We had slavery
among us, we could not get our Constitution unless we permitted them
to remain in slavery, we could not secure the good we did secure if we
grasped for more; and having by necessity submitted to that much, it does
not destroy the principle that is the charter of our liberties. Let that
charter stand as our standard.
My friend has said to me that I am a poor hand to quote Scripture. I will
try it again, however. It is said in one of the admonitions of our Lord,
"As your Father in heaven is perfect, be ye also perfect." The Savior, I
suppose, did not expect that any human creature could be perfect as the
Father in heaven; but he said, "As your Father in heaven is perfect, be ye
also perfect." He set that up as a standard; and he who did most towards
reaching that standard attained the highest degree of moral perfection. So
I say in relation to the principle that all men are created equal, let
it be as nearly reached as we can. If we cannot give freedom to every
creature, let us do nothing that will impose slavery upon any other
creature. Let us then turn this government back into the channel in which
the framers of the Constitution originally placed it. Let us stand
firmly by each other. If we do not do so, we are turning in the contrary
direction, that our friend Judge Douglas proposes--not intentionally--as
working in the traces tends to make this one universal slave nation. He is
one that runs in that direction, and as such I resist him.
My friends, I have detained you about as long as I desired to do, and I
have only to say: Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the
other man, this race and that race and the other race being inferior,
and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position; discarding our
standard that we have left us. Let us discard all these things, and unite
as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up
declaring that all men are created equal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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