Logical…With An Occasional Poetic Metaphor

If you've ever tried to convince a group of people that there's a conspiracy to spread slavery to the entire United States, then you'll know how important it is to back up your statements with practical, tangible evidence. If for some strange reason you haven't, well, you can thank Honest Abe and his rhetorical skillz.

Most of the "House Divided" speech provides rational, evidence-based reasons for Lincoln's argument that slavery could soon expand to the whole country. He's not appealing to people's emotions—which are probably already at an agitated fever pitch—but trying to convince them that their (and his) fears are justified.

A good example is early in the speech, when he starts to recount the recent history of slavery legislation:

The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the states by state constitutions and from most of the national territory by congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced the struggle which ended in repealing that congressional prohibition. This opened all the national territory to slavery and was the first point gained. (14-16)

He's making a pretty big statement, but he's not using dramatic language to make his point. Throughout the speech, we see the same kind of style. He reminds the audience what happened, when, and how that event furthered the cause of the other side. And he's making it hard to argue when he can present such rational evidence.

Now and again, he leans into the "house divided" metaphor, or goes off into a more elegant, dramatic style to inspire some feeling in his audience.

Check it out:

Under the Dred Scott decision, "squatter sovereignty" squatted out of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding; like the mold at the foundry, served through one blast and fell back into loose sand; helped to carry an election and then was kicked to the winds. (43)

Abraham L. didn't just say "the decision made popular sovereignty impossible," he used the metaphor of a structure falling down to evoke the opening metaphor and put a scary picture in people's minds. Nobody likes to think of their own house falling down around their ears.