House Divided according to Shmoop

[Amy L.]

Here is perhaps an answer to my question (put to Roger Norton), asking - What is Slave Power and the talk of conspiracy in Lincoln's House Divided Speech? -

In reference to Elizabeth Varon's book - ARMIES OF DELIVERANCE: A NEW HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR (2019)
From The Nation's / James Oaks' commentary :

"... Varon repeatedly describes the Slave Power as a “conspiracy theory.” It was no such thing. The Slave Power was the name antislavery Northerners gave to something most historians recognize as very real—the disproportionate power exercised by the slaveholders over every branch of the federal government. From 1790 to 1860, nearly every president was either a slaveholder or a proslavery Northerner. The Supreme Court was dominated by proslavery justices. The House of Representatives and the Electoral College were skewed by the Constitution’s three-fifths clause, which enhanced Southern political influence over Congress and the presidency. The foreign-policy apparatus was dominated by imperial-minded slaveholders and their allies. This was the Slave Power, and its opponents had clear and convincing explanations for the source of its strength and compelling reasons for wanting to destroy it."

https://www.thenation.com/article/civil-...ok-review/