Read the excerpt from president lincoln’s 1865 inaugural address, in which he speaks about the civil war. one-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the union, but localized in the southern part of it. these slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. all knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. to strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the union even by war, while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. which statement best summarizes the central idea in this excerpt? before the civil war, most enslaved people were living in the southern part of the union. the union fought in the civil war because they wanted to strengthen, perpetuate, and extend slavery. the civil war occurred because people in the south wanted to protect and spread the practice of slavery. before the civil war, the government did not try to stop slavery, but only tried to keep it from growing. the civil war occurred because people in the south wanted to protect and spread the practice of slavery.