Read the excerpt from President Lincoln's 1865 inaugural

address, in which he speaks about the Civil War.

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One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not

distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the

southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and

powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow

the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend

this interest was the object for which the insurgents would

rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed

no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement

of it.