How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
The working points of that machinery are:
First, that no Negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no descendant of such slave can ever be a citizen of any state in the sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States. This point is made in order to deprive the Negro, in every possible event, of the benefit of that provision of the United States Constitution which declares that 'the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.' (48-59)
Lincoln discusses the Dred Scott decision a number of times throughout his speech, and here he summarizes the decision of the Supreme Court, what it means for Black people, and the Court's motivation for giving it. Lincoln focuses on the Constitution, which is the purview of the Supreme Court and therefore what they used to justify their decision. The focus on the Constitution illustrates how powerful the Supreme Court decision was. At the end of the day it's all about the core document of the United States government and legal system, the interpretation of which has a serious, real impact on the American people.
Quote #2
… whether the holding a Negro in actual slavery in a free state makes him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave state the Negro may be forced into by the master. This point is made, not to be pressed immediately but, if acquiesced in for awhile, and apparently endorsed by the people at an election, then to sustain the logical conclusion that what Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott in the free state of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with any other one, or 1,000 slaves, in Illinois or in any other free state. (53-54)
Lincoln's getting a little sarcastic here. (Sassy Lincoln.) He repeats the sequence of legal and political events from the Dred Scott case as if they are now the norm. It's sort of a "well apparently this is how things are done now" kind of statement. He focuses on the political mechanisms involved in the case and its implications for the rest of the country
Quote #3
While the opinion of the Court, by Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case, and the separate opinions of all the concurring Judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of the United States neither permits Congress nor a Territorial legislature to exclude slavery from any United States territory, they all omit to say whether or not the same Constitution permits a state, or the people of a State, to exclude it. (79)
The question of the states' ability to regulate slavery is a big issue in the "House Divided" speech. Lincoln talks about how Taney's decision potentially threatens the ability of the states to prevent slavery from spreading into their territories. Again, the events in the judicial branch are playing a key role in the political realm