slavepower

The older view that Douglas was simply playing into the hands of the "slavepower" by sacrificing Kansas, is no longer tenable.

Abraham Lincoln and the Union; a chronicle of the embattled North 1901

Lincoln was laying out his plan to stop expansion, which would gradually end slavery in 30 – 50 years as the slavepower lost its grip on the Senate (no new slave states means no more slave senators) and eventually would have to accept a constitutional amendment ending the practice.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Virginia “Confederate History Month” Proclamation 2010

Lincoln was laying out his plan to stop expansion, which would gradually end slavery in 30–50 years as the slavepower lost its grip on the Senate no new slave states means no more slave senators and eventually would have to accept a constitutional amendment ending the practice.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Virginia “Confederate History Month” Proclamation 2010