Declaration Idea of America Network

Abraham Lincoln was challenging Steven Douglas for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Our nation was confronting the possibility of a civil war over the issue of slavery. Lincoln had just received the endorsement of the Republican Convention in Springfield, Illinois. His acceptance speech opened with:

"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it."

He concluded his opening with:

"A nation divided against itself cannot stand."

Words so true at the time. Words so relevant today. A nation divided. A nation polarized. Then, overt and outright. Today, subtle and colorblind. Then, a civil war eventually fought with arms. Today, a civil war being fought in terms of "dog whistle" politics and social media. Then, the future of our Republic at stake. Today, the future of our Democracy in question.

"Is our democracy in danger? It is a question we never thought we,d be asking. Are we living through the decline and fall of one of the world's oldest and most successful democracies'?" So asks two professors of government at Harvard University in their book entitled:
How Democracies Die.

We know from our study of history that nations have traditionally died from military conflicts, destroyed in the process of war, done in by dictators, military forces, tanks and guns. We also know that nations can die from internal sources. Leaders who espouse democracy but use the tools of democracy to destroy democracy. Packed elections. Ruling out free and open voting. Using social and news media to broadcast lies and falsehoods. Packing courts and inciting violence. The tools for destroying democracy are many. And those tools are most deadly and effective when a nation is polarized.

"A NATION DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND"

Abraham Lincoln (1858)