I may be incorrect, but wasn’t Lincoln’s position even less direct and was “new states should decide for themselves”, but the south wanted “new states have an automatic yes”?
Lincoln was opposed to the expansion of slavery into the territories, and believed that the Federal government did not have the power to remove or prevent slavery from expanding into states, but could do so to territories.
One of his Democratic opponents in the election, Douglas, took the ‘moderate’ position of letting territories decide for themselves, while the majority South opinion championed by his other Democratic opponent, Breckenridge, was that slavery could not be forbidden from the territories.
I may be incorrect, but wasn’t Lincoln’s position even less direct and was “new states should decide for themselves”, but the south wanted “new states have an automatic yes”?
Lincoln was opposed to the expansion of slavery into the territories, and believed that the Federal government did not have the power to remove or prevent slavery from expanding into states, but could do so to territories.
One of his Democratic opponents in the election, Douglas, took the ‘moderate’ position of letting territories decide for themselves, while the majority South opinion championed by his other Democratic opponent, Breckenridge, was that slavery could not be forbidden from the territories.