Abraham Lincoln: “House Divided” Speech

( 1858 ) Commentary by Robert R. Montgomery, independent scholar

“‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.'” - Paragraph 5
“I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” - Paragraph 6
“We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their State free; and we shall awake to the reality, instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State.” - Paragraph 58
“They remind us that he is a very great man, and that the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But, ‘a living dog is better than a dead lion.'” - Paragraph 63
“How can he oppose the advances of slavery? He don't care anything about it.” - Paragraph 63

Abraham Lincoln (Library of Congress)

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