Lincoln was a victim of the circumstances of the time. States rights do not include defying the declaration or the constitution. The slavery issue was one that festered for years and grew into a derision that apparently could be cursed no other way except to destroy a generation of Americans. Lincoln lost his life protecting American sovereignty. We are still suffering the effects of Lincoln’s murder and the terrible reconstruction period that could’ve been much less painful had he been allowed to live. The democrat party still embodies the principles that led us into slavery and eventually civil war.
