From House Divided Speech by Abraham Lincoln (1858)
This paragraph is an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's speech upon accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the US
Senate
If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far
into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident
promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under
the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a
crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this
government cannot endure
permanently half slave and half
free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will
cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and
place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it
shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South.
1
Which of the following best describes the tone of Lincoln's speech?
A. derogatory
B. apologetic
C
urgent
D. complacent