House Divided Speech

Content Warning: The source material and this guide reference the enslavement of Black Americans and the associated racism and prejudice.

In the 1850s, the size of the United States had once again expanded to include lands won in the Mexican War (1846-48). This added to the lands acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase (1803), which had already doubled the size of the country. A substantial gain had also been made in Oregon, which was ceded by Great Britain in 1846. Northern lands, because of their cooler, less arable character, were considered unfit for plantation agriculture. However, warmer, more fertile lands acquired from Mexico, but for the labor needs that could be filled by expanding slavery, held strong prospects for an expanded cash crop economy resembling that of the Southeast. Therefore, as the political geography of North America took shape, the issue of slavery loomed large, often framed as a necessity for the success of the regional economy. A map from the National Geographic Society provides a good visual aid to understand this crisis.

The Missouri Compromise (1820) forbade the expansion of slavery into any new states, save only Missouri, which was admitted as a slave state in exchange for the admission of Maine as a free state. This preserved the precious status quo in Congress, especially in the Senate, where each state is represented by two senators. Later, the Missouri Compromise was weakened by another piece of legislation, The Compromise of 1850, which allowed California to enter as a free state. However, in exchange, the Utah and New Mexico territories were incorporated without any prohibition against slavery. Also, the federal Fugitive Slave Law was significantly strengthened, requiring local authorities and even citizens to pursue persons who had escaped slavery.

During this tumultuous time period, pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists and politicians vehemently argued over their views. Prominent abolitionists included William Lloyd Garrison, a publisher from Boston as well as his protégé, Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved man, who became an author and activist. Garrison famously burned a copy of the US Constitution, claiming that it was reprehensible in its validation of slavery. Garrison instead turned to the Declaration of Independence as a founding document worthy of public respect. In “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July,” Frederick Douglass states that this day, sacred to Americans as a celebration of liberty, means nothing to the enslaved individual who remains shackled.

Southern abolitionist Angelina Grimke relied primarily on religious grounds to argue against slavery. Grimke, born to wealthy planters in South Carolina, saw the practice of slavery first hand. Her most famous work, American Slavery as It Is, coauthored by her husband Theodore Weld and sister Sarah Grimke, contained vivid illustrations of chains and shackles as well as accounts of abuse. The work inspired another famous abolitionist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who penned Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel exploring the evils of slavery. When Lincoln met Stowe, he reportedly greeted her with the pronouncement, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!” (Warren, Frederick. “What Did Lincoln Say to Mrs. Stowe?” Harriet Beecher Stowe House).

Opposing these abolitionists were politicians, most notably John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who defended slavery on moral and ethical grounds. In a famous speech to the Senate in 1837, Calhoun contended that slavery was not merely a necessary evil, but “a good—a positive good” in providing a domestic arrangement to benefit and care for an “inferior” African race (Calhoun, John. “Slavery a Positive Good.” Teaching American History).

More moderate opposition, such as the antagonists of Lincoln’s “A House Divided” speech, initially took a practical approach that focused on the economic need for slavery and the priority of protecting against civil war. They aimed at tolerating slavery within certain jurisdictions while paying no mind to moral arguments, what Lincoln describes as Douglas’s “care not” policy. Lincoln’s moralistic views regarding slavery brought to light an underlying immorality in economy-based pro-slavery arguments. “A House Divided” additionally addresses the hidden motives behind Democratic politicians’ statements and political moves, suggesting that Lincoln refused to allow miscommunication, misinformation, or secrecy to govern the US regarding the enslavement of Black Americans.