In 1858, Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech at the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois. He was addressing his Republican colleagues as their first US Senate candidate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. He begins his speech by referring to the Kansas- Nebraska Act and the repeal of Missouri Compromise by Stephen Douglas, attributing it to an escalation of unrest. Lincoln then asserts that the end to slavery agitation will not come until a crisis has occurred: "In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed". In this sentence, Lincoln seems to be referring to the civil war in which southern states will secede from the Union in order to preserve their way of life. Following the foreshadowing of the civil war, Lincoln unravels what will become the main argument in his speech: "A house divided against itself cannot stand". This may seem familiar as it originates from the bible: Mark 3.25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. In other words, Lincoln assures his audience that a country composed of half slave states and half free states will eventually cease to be a country. However, he clarifies his statement by saying that he does not believe the house, otherwise known as the US government, will not fall. It will either become entirely pro- slavery or entirely anti-slavery. Lincoln urges his audience to stand firm despite the troubling times because he believes that a stop in the spread of slavery will lead to its demise.