I. Any creed is radically wrong that cannot be proclaimed alike in every state in the Union.
B. Refutation: The argument that this government cannot exist half slave and half free is unsound, for
I. Each state decides upon its own institutions, for
a. Each state is sovereign.
II. If the makers of the Constitution had believed Lincoln’s doctrine, they would have made a provision establishing slavery, for
a. At that time twelve out of thirteen states were slave holding states.
III. It would be unjust for the Northern states to attack slavery in the slave states, for
a. When the free states were in the minority the slave states did not interfere with them.
b. It would violate the sovereignty of the states which is guaranteed them in the Constitution.
C. Lincoln is undecided about the admission of more slave states, for