Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/51

Rh with that knowledge which in after life was of such great benefit to him.

In those days the fires of the great Civil War, which was to bring so much trouble to our glorious country, were already smouldering and had been smouldering for years. The great question was that of state sovereignty, or state rights, brought on over the question of which states should own slaves and which should not. Briefly explained, the people of the North held that no new states admitted to the Union should possess slaves, while the people of the South held that such new states had a right to do as they pleased concerning the slave question. Each side was fully convinced that it was in the right, and each was prepared to fight to the bitter end in the upholding of its principles.

As said before, William McKinley had been in the habit of listening to public speakers, and now he listened more attentively than ever, for he was anxious to learn all the details of the magnificent struggle which was so soon to unroll itself before the eyes of the world. But like thousands of others, he did not believe it possible that