Private letter from Abraham Lincoln to Alexander Stephens

Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves?  If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears.

The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than it was in the days of Washington.  I suppose, however, this does not meet the case.  You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted.  That I suppose is the rub.  It certainly is the only substantial difference between us. 

~ Abraham Lincoln, private letter to Alexander H. Stephens (friend and future vice president of the Confederacy), December 22, 1860

Abraham Lincoln
1873