Answer:
Lincoln predicts that the country will not remain divided and that one-half of the country will change its position on this issue. Either all of the states will allow slavery, or none of them will. Lincoln states, "Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new—North as well as South."
Step-by-step explanation:
In his speech, Lincoln states, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." Lincoln believed that the issue of slavery was so contentious that it had the potential to tear the country apart and that a resolution needed to be reached in order for the United States to remain intact.