Wolfgang Mieder

"A House Divided": From Biblical Proverb to Lincoln and Beyond Wolfgang Mieder

This study investigates the meaning and function of the proverb ?A house divided against itself cannot stand? from its early scriptural usage to its effective secularization in American social and political life. The discussion of numerous contextualized examples illustrates how this Biblical proverb was employed by Thomas Paine, Abigail Adams, Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, Daniel Webster, and others. Abraham Lincoln elevated the proverb to a national slogan in his famous ?House divided? speech that he delivered on June 18, 1858, in Springfield, Illinois. During the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates of that year the proverb became a rallying leitmotif for maintaining the Union. Since the Civil War Lincoln?s name has been attached to the proverb, and it survives as a metaphorical symbol to describe various types of conflict. During Germany?s reunification process it gained considerable popularity through Willy Brandt?s repeated use to argue against the division of that country.