A politician playing on his audience's fears? No, that can't be right, they would never do such a thing. Except all the time, always.
In this case, Lincoln shares the fear of his audience: that the northern states who have basically never wanted slavery will soon be forced to allow it by the Supreme Court. The divided house of the "House Divided" speech will have to unify one way or the other, and one of his big points is that it really could go either way.
In fact, he spends most of the speech convincing his listeners how likely it is that the court will choose the option they don't want, to motivate them to stay strong against not just pro-slavery forces, but the doctrine of popular sovereignty as well.
Questions About Fear
- Why would Lincoln use fear as a political tactic in 1858? Would it have been more or less effective in 1848?
- Why were northerners so afraid of the spread of slavery into the north and west in 1858?
- How accurate or justified were Lincoln's illustrations meant to encourage fear in his audience? Did they actually have something to be scared about?
- What is Lincoln's primary method of inducing fear in the "House Divided" speech? Is it effective?
Chew on This
"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself"…unless you're an American who doesn't like slavery in 1858. In that case, there are one or two other things.
Some of the pro-slavery folks were just as scared that they would lose their right to own slaves, but of course we're not nearly as sympathetic towards those guys.