In the past,he noted, the national government had tried to divide free states from slave states by a line across a map.

VOA: special.2009.04.23

He said it would be best to let the people themselves decide if New Mexico would be a slave or free state.

VOA: special.2009.03.12

Finally,he asked the United States Supreme Court to decide if he was a slave or a free man.

VOA: special.2009.05.14

Lincoln then defended his statement that the United States could not continue half slave and half free.

VOA: special.2009.06.11

A bill was proposed that would free any slave who joined the army to fight.

VOA: special.2009.12.03

How had the country existed half-slave and half-free for so many years, Lincoln asked.

VOA: special.2009.06.11

Slave-holders in Missouri did not want the Nebraska area to become a free territory.

VOA: special.2009.04.23

The committee had six members from slave states and six from free states.

VOA: special.2009.04.02

He noted that the country had been half-slave and half-free for seventy years.

VOA: special.2009.06.11

This,he said,would lead to war between the slave-holding and free states.

VOA: special.2009.03.19