But he believed that the people of a territory had the right to make their own decision to accept or reject slavery.

VOA: special.2009.05.21

And that would often actually the right answer to take, is to not just compromise among your advisers, but use your own principles to make a decision.

而且通常情况,他的观点是对的，并不是向智囊团的意见妥协，而是根据自己的原则做决定。

普林斯顿公开课 - 国际座谈会课程节选