Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 50th Anniversary EditionThis definitive analysis of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is “one of the most influential works of American history and political philosophy ever published (National Review). In Crisis of the House Divided, noted conservative scholar and historian Harry V. Jaffa illuminates the political principles that guided Abraham Lincoln from his reentry into politics in 1854 through his Senate campaign against Stephen Douglas in 1858. Through critical analysis of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Jaffa demonstrates that Lincoln’s political career was grounded in his commitment to constitutionalism, the rule of law, and abolition. A landmark work of American history, it “has shaped the thought of a generation of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War scholars." To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication, Jaffa has provided a new introduction (Civil War History). "A searching and provocative analysis of the issues confronted and the ideas expounded in the great debates…A book which displays such learning and insight that it cannot fail to excite the admiration even of scholars who disagree with its major arguments and conclusions."—D. E. Fehrenbacher, American Historical Review |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 90
Page iii
... Union, but it has little to say about the reasons that Lincoln believed made the Union worth saving. The pro-Southern anti-Lincoln literature usually prefers not to be identified now with the defense of slavery, but instead denounces ...
... Union, but it has little to say about the reasons that Lincoln believed made the Union worth saving. The pro-Southern anti-Lincoln literature usually prefers not to be identified now with the defense of slavery, but instead denounces ...
Page v
... Union in the Civil War was just or unjust. (Or, we might add, to ask whether the cause represented by Churchill, or that represented by Hitler, was a just cause.) Becker is best known for his presidential address to the American ...
... Union in the Civil War was just or unjust. (Or, we might add, to ask whether the cause represented by Churchill, or that represented by Hitler, was a just cause.) Becker is best known for his presidential address to the American ...
Page x
... union of justice and utility could not be achieved by any wholly modern form of natural right. It could only be achieved by some form of Socratic natural right, that form of natural right which pointed to the sovereignty of philosophic ...
... union of justice and utility could not be achieved by any wholly modern form of natural right. It could only be achieved by some form of Socratic natural right, that form of natural right which pointed to the sovereignty of philosophic ...
Page xii
... Union speech—ending the argument with Douglas—Lincoln said, “Let us have faith that Right makes Might, and in that faith, let us to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” Such a faith in right as that of Abraham Lincoln ...
... Union speech—ending the argument with Douglas—Lincoln said, “Let us have faith that Right makes Might, and in that faith, let us to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” Such a faith in right as that of Abraham Lincoln ...
Page 12
... Union resulted in brutal repression. It was therefore not surprising, however tragic the error, that the fulfillment in law of so much of the original promise of equality should have been followed not by a strengthened belief in the ...
... Union resulted in brutal repression. It was therefore not surprising, however tragic the error, that the fulfillment in law of so much of the original promise of equality should have been followed not by a strengthened belief in the ...
Contents
5 | |
7 | |
17 | |
The Case for Douglas | 39 |
Part III The Political Philosophy of a Young Whig | 181 |
Part IV The Case for Lincoln | 273 |
Notes | 410 |
Appendices | 430 |
Index | 445 |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionism abolitionists according to Lincoln amendment American anti-slavery argument assertion believed cause citizens civil Compromise of 1850 Congress Constitution conviction created equal crisis Declaration of Independence Democrats denied doctrine Douglas’s Dred Scott decision enslave existed fact favor federal final find first free-soil freedom Gettysburg Address house divided house divided speech human Ibid Illinois influence institutions Jefferson joint debates justice Kansas Kansas-Nebraska Act labor Lecompton legislation liberty Lincoln and Douglas Lincoln-Douglas debates Lyceum speech man’s meant ment Mexican Mexico Missouri Compromise moral movement nation natural right Nebraska Nebraska bill Negro never Nevins North Northwest Ordinance opinion party passions Peoria speech political popular government popular sovereignty possible principle profitable proposition provision question reason reflections reformers repeal republic Republican revolution Senate sense slave South southern Springfield Supreme Court Taney temperance movement territories Texas tion true Union United virtue vote Webster Whig Wilmot Proviso