Alliteration in House Divided Speech

Lincoln uses alliteration and simile to showcase the failure of Douglas’s popular sovereignty doctrine and to highlight its role in expanding slavery. The alliterative phrase “squatter sovereignty squatted out of existence” is both memorable and humorous, adding a mocking tone to Lincoln’s words. Combined with the simile comparing “squatter sovereignty” to “temporary scaffolding,” it also conveys a sense of impermanence and instability. Though popular sovereignty sounded good in theory and became a major campaign issue, it was a resounding failure in application, promptly “kicked to the winds.”