I believe that this new doctrine preached by Mr. … And why can we not adhere to the great principle of self-government, upon which our institutions were originally based. I hold that New York had as much right to abolish slavery as Virginia has to continue it, and that each and every State of this Union is a sovereign power, with the right to do as it pleases upon this question of slavery, and upon all its domestic institutions. Now, I hold that Illinois had a right to abolish and prohibit slavery as she did, and I hold that Kentucky has the same right to continue and protect slavery that Illinois had to abolish it. The government’s responsibility was to protect the sovereignty of the states to determine for themselves whether slavery should be allowed: This became the most heated topic of debate between the two leading candidates in the upcoming presidential election: Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.ĭouglas, citing the principle of popular sovereignty, argued that individuals should have the right to determine for themselves whether or not they would own slaves, and that no one else had the right to object. Abolitionists cried foul, stating that the institution of slavery was wicked, and that the nation had a moral obligation to prevent its spread. Proponents of slavery saw this as a big win, and an opportunity to see a controversial practice legalized in more states. They also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, meaning that Congress had no authority to tell states that slavery must be illegal (because this would be violating the 5th Amendment’s prohibition of citizens being deprived of their “property” without due process of the law). Seven of the nine justices ruled that no slave or descendant of a slave could ever be considered a U.S. In 1857, the Court handed down the infamous Dred Scott Decision. The Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling is far from its first controversial judgment. So who has the better case for invoking Lincoln’s support? Let’s take a closer look at the context, shall we? In many ways, this parallels the current divide in our country over the ability for homosexuals to marry. It is somewhat ironic, then, that I have seen Lincoln quoted today by both proponents and critics of gay marriage. The country was in a state of increasing turmoil over the issue of slavery, with people deeply divided by strongly held convictions. These lines come from a speech Lincoln gave on September 16 & 17 in Kansas & Ohio, during his first presidential campaign. And it has the added virtue of being correctly attributed to our 16th president, unlike so many other Abraham Lincoln “quotes”. I happen to applaud and agree with this quote.
One meme in particular stuck out to me today, posted to the Facebook page of Congressman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK): Along with the plethora of opinions (of which everyone has one, though I’ll be keeping mine to myself for the time being) have come the predictable quote memes on the Facebook news feeds, thanks to our collective love of appealing to authority. Many words have been spilled about today’s SCOTUS ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.