Lincoln said, "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." However, most of the American people North as well as South, supported obedience to the Constitution which protected slavery in the South. In 1865, the Emancipation Amendment was supported by a majority of the American people only as a war measure. Seen from our time, this was a colossal failure of morality. What does this tell you about the role of the people in a democratic government.