A House Divided

🧩 Key Excerpts: Answer in Notebook

📜 EXCERPT 1: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”

Discussion Question:

• #1 - What does Lincoln mean when he says a "house divided" can’t stand? (Respond on your notebook)
  
  

Extended Question:

• Do you agree that a country can’t survive with such big disagreements? Pick the one that you like best and write a sentence why!

• Choice 1: Big disagreements can actually help a country get new ideas and make better choices, as long as people work together.

• Choice 2: It really depends on what people are arguing about; if it's about basic rules and trust, it's tough, but if it's about daily problems, a country can be fine.

• Choice 3: If people disagree too much and can't make important decisions, it can be very hard for a country to stay strong.

• 📜 EXCERPT 2: "It will become all one thing, or all the other."

• “It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it... or its advocates will push it forward.”

• Discussion Question:

• #2 - What two futures does Lincoln see for America? (Respond in your Notebook)
  
  
  

Extended Question #2

• Why do you think he believed slavery had to either end completely or spread completely?

Choice 1: He believed the country couldn't stay half free and half slave. It had to be one or the other.

Choice 2: He saw slavery as a major conflict that would tear the country apart if it wasn't settled for good, one way or another.

Choice 3: Lincoln felt that slavery was wrong and that the nation's future required a clear decision on whether it would exist everywhere or nowhere.