Question

excerpt from message to the congress in special session, july 4, 1861 by abraham lincoln. president lincoln gave this speech to congress to gain support and funding for the civil war after southern states had withdrawn from the union. this is essentially a peoples contest. on the side of the union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of man - to lift artificial weights from all shoulders - to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all - to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life. i am most happy to believe that the plain people understand and appreciate this. it is worthy of note, that while in this, the governments hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army and navy, who have been favored with the offices, have resigned, and proved false to the hand which had pampered them, not one common soldier, or common sailor is known to have deserted his flag. great honor is due to those officers who remain true, despite the example of their treacherous associates; but the greatest honor, and most important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers, and common sailors. to the last man, so far as known, they have successfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those, whose commands, but an hour before, they obeyed as absolute law. this is the patriotic instinct of the plain people. they understand, they understand, without an argument, that destroying the government, which was made by washington, means no good to them. our popular government has often been called an experiment. two points in it, our people have already settled - the successful establishing, and the successful administering of it. select all the correct answers. what two reasons does lincoln give for launching military action against the south? to guarantee that every state continues to have a republican form of government, as promised by the constitution to honor the common soldiers and sailors who have not abandoned their posts to teach americans that change can only come peacefully, through elections, not through war to preserve a government dedicated to giving each citizen a fair chance to take revenge on the treacherous officers who abandoned their flag

Explanation:

Lincoln emphasized the importance of maintaining the form of government that aims to give citizens a fair - chance and ensuring every state has a republican form as per the Constitution. The speech doesn't focus on honoring soldiers in this context for military action, nor on teaching about peaceful change or revenge.

Answer:

• to guarantee that every state continues to have a republican form of government, as promised by the Constitution
• to preserve a government dedicated to giving each citizen a fair chance