“ Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. ”
Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union Address (1 December 1862). copy citation
| Author | Abraham Lincoln |
|---|---|
| Source | State of the Union Address |
| Topic | country secession wall |
| Date | 1 December 1862 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5024/5024-h/5024-h.htm |
Context
“The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before?”
source
Meaning and analysis
