Pedzisa mutsara unotevera: Pashure pokukundwa naLyman Trumbull musarudzo yeSeneti ya1856, Abraham Lincoln akatanga kuronga kukwikwidzana naDouglas musarudzo yeSeneti ya1858. Lincoln akaramba zvakasimba zvikarakadzo zvokubatira pamwe naDouglas mukurwisana naBuchanan, uye akakunda kudomwa kweRepublican kuti arwisane naDouglas. Achibvuma kugadzwa, Lincoln akapa
House Divided Speech, ichiti "Imba yakakamukana haigoni kumira. Ndinotenda kuti hurumende iyi haigoni kutsungirira, nguva dzose hafu muranda uye hafu akasununguka. Handitarisiri kuti Union ichaparara - handitarisiri kuti Imba iyi ichapera - asi ndinotarisira kuti icharega kupatsanuka. Zvichava zvose chimwe chinhu, kana kuti zvimwe zvose". Douglas akaramba pfungwa yaLincoln yokuti United States haigoni kuramba yakakamurwa kuva nyika dzakasununguka uye nyika dzevaranda, uye akanyevera kuti Lincoln akadaidzira "hondo yekuparadzana, hondo yeNorth inopesana neSouth, yenyika dzakasununguka dzinopesana nenyika dzevaranda".