Use the excerpt from the Seventh Debate Between Lincoln and Douglas to answer the question.

Douglas’s essential argument in this statement is that the nation

A.
cannot survive as long as the question of slavery remains unsettled.

B.
works best when there are an equal number of free and slave states.

C.
will endure as long as states are able to decide their laws for themselves.

D.
must accept that the founders’ views on slavery cannot stand up over time.