Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free.” Explain Abraham Lincoln’s perspective.

  • UPSC 2016
  • Origins of Modern Politics

Delivered at the Illinois Republican State Convention on 16 June 1858, as Lincoln accepted the nomination to contest Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate, this line diagnosed slavery as a crisis the Union could no longer indefinitely postpone.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The Argument: No Permanent Middle Ground
  • Rebutting Douglas's Popular Sovereignty
  • Political Purpose and Strategy
  • Lincoln's Underlying Perspective on the Union

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Origins of Modern Politics question (91 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in