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Date:
Hour:
A House Divided: Pre-Civil War Reading Comprehension
1.6.1 – I can analyze causes of the Civil War
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took part in a series of debates during their bid for the Illinois Senate
race in 1858. In his response to Douglas’s opening speech in their first debate, Lincoln summarized his
objections to slavery. Then he responded to two of Douglas’s charges: that Lincoln’s position violated the
states’ right to be different, and limiting the spread of slavery went against the idea of the people having final
political power. As you read, note how Lincoln responds to the charge that he wants all the various parts of the
United States to be the same.
[8 pts.]
I hate it [the spread of slavery] because of the monstrous injustice
of slavery itself, I hate it because it deprives our republican example of
its just influence in the world – enables the enemies of free
institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites – causes the
friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity and especially because it
forces so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war
with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty – criticizing the
Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no principle of
action but self-interest.
…When he [Douglas] undertakes to say that because I think this
nation, so far as the question of Slavery is concerned, will all become
one thing or become the other, [and that] I am in favor of bringing
about a dead uniformity in the various States, in all their institutions,
he argues erroneously. The great variety of the local institutions in the
States, springing from differences in the soil, differences in the face of
the country, and in the climate, are bonds of Union. They do not make
“a house divided against itself”, but they make a house united. If they
produce in one section of the country what is called for by the wants of
another section, and this other section can supply the wants of the
first, they are not matters of discord but bonds of union. But can this
question of slavery be considered as among these varieties in the
institutions of our country? I leave it to you to say whether, in the
history of our government, this institution of slavery had not always
failed to be bound of union, and, on the contrary, been an apple of
discord and an element of division in the house…
- Abraham Lincoln, Writings Volume One. New York: The Library of America, Penguin Books, 1989
Vocabulary
Plausibility: believability
Hypocrite: someone who acts differently than his
or her stated beliefs
Erroneously: mistakenly
Discord: conflict
1. Lincoln gives all of the following as reasons for why he hates
slavery except…
a. it is injust.
b. it makes us look like hypocrites.
c. Douglas is for it.
d. it goes against the Declaration of Independence.
2. Lincoln makes this response to Stephen Douglas to…
a. prove that slavery should be allowed only in the South.
b. explain that he doesn’t want all parts of the US to be the same.
c. explain that he wants all parts of the US to be the same.
d. state that the United States is divided.
3. Which statement best summarizes Lincoln’s belief about
differences in a country?
a. Differences only serve to divide a country and bring it down.
b. Differences are good as long as they help supply the needs of
other sections of the country.
c. Differences are always good and should be encouraged.
d. Differences in opinion on slavery are good for the country.
4. Lincoln says that slavery goes against the Declaration of
Independence. What words in the Declaration of Independence
could help prove that slavery was wrong? (complete sentences)
5. Lincoln describes slavery as a “monstrous injustice”. Give an example from what you have learned about slavery that would prove his words
true. (complete sentences)
6. One of the reasons southern states chose to secede from the United States and form their own country was their fear that Abraham Lincoln
would abolish slavery. If you had been a southerner at this time, explain whether this speech by Lincoln would have made you think he was
planning to abolish slavery or not. (complete sentences)
When you are trying to persuade
someone, it is important to be able
to differentiate between fact and
opinion and to know how to use
both. A fact is a piece of information
that can be proven. An opinion is a
belief or a conclusion that may be
thought out, yet is open to dispute.
Read each of the sentences at right.
In the space provided, indicate
whether the statement is a Fact (F)
or an Opinion (O). If it is an opinion,
re-write the statement to make it a
fact.
_____ 1. John Brown led the raid on Harpers Ferry.
_____ 2. Jefferson Davis made a good decision when he ordered the attack on Fort Sumter.
_____ 3. Charles Sumner deserved to be hit with a cane because of what he said in the Senate.
_____ 4. The Republican party was formed in 1854.
O = Abraham Lincoln was the best _____ 5. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky.
president this country has ever
had.
Rewritten as a fact = Abraham _____ 6. Had Stephen Douglas been elected president, there would not have been a Civil War.
Lincoln was the 16th president
of this country.
[12 pts.]