This is my second installment on The American Civil War.
A thousand Republican delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, statehouse for the Republican State Convention on June 16, 1858. They chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. That night Abraham Lincoln delivered an address to his Republican delegates. The title reflects part of the speech’s introduction “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” His source was the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It was a speech that many of his closest colleagues did not want him to give. They thought it to be too politically incorrect. Against the wishes of his closest advisors Lincoln delivered the speech that would make him a national figure and a demon in the eyes of the southerners.
Following are the opening remarks of that speech;