Use the quotation to answer the question.
“[T]he maintenance . . . of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment [alone], is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend. . . .”
—Abraham Lincoln, 1st inaugural address, March 4, 1861
In his inaugural address, why did Lincoln refer to the right of each state to control its own affairs?
- to assure the southern states that they would make their own decisions about slavery
- to affirm his belief in popular sovereignty
- to assure the Confederate States of America that their decision to secede was valid
- to assure the North that slavery would be abolished in all states
“[T]he maintenance . . . of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment [alone], is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend. . . .”
—Abraham Lincoln, 1st inaugural address, March 4, 1861
In his inaugural address, why did Lincoln refer to the right of each state to control its own affairs?
