Abraham lincoln first inaugural address speech. Abraham Lincoln 2022-10-18
Abraham lincoln first inaugural address speech Rating:
7,7/10
880
reviews
On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural address as the President of the United States. The speech was given at a time of great crisis and tension in the country, as several Southern states had already seceded from the Union and the threat of civil war loomed large.
In his speech, Lincoln sought to calm the fears of the American people and to reassure them that he would do everything in his power to preserve the Union. He began by acknowledging the deep divisions that existed within the country and the legitimate grievances that many people had. However, he argued that these issues could only be resolved through peaceful means and that violence and secession were not the answer.
Lincoln also addressed the issue of slavery, which was one of the main causes of the crisis. While he recognized that many people in the South believed that slavery was a necessary part of their way of life, he argued that it was a moral wrong that needed to be abolished. He went on to say that he had no intention of interfering with the institution of slavery where it already existed, but that he would not allow it to spread to new territories.
One of the most memorable lines of Lincoln's inaugural address came when he said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." This statement has become famous because it captures the gravity of the situation that the country was facing and the need for unity in order to overcome it.
Overall, Lincoln's first inaugural address was a powerful and thoughtful speech that sought to bring the country together and find a peaceful resolution to the crisis it was facing. It remains an important document in American history and is still studied and admired to this day.
Abraham Lincoln inaugurated
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. We must not be enemies. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended.
It was telegraphed from New York to Kearney, Nebraska, then taken by Pony Express to Folsom, California, where it was telegraphed to Sacramento for publication. On your undivided support of your government depends the decision of the great question it involves, whether your sacred Union will be preserved, and the blessing it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. The Constitution does not expressly say. One party to a contract may violate it--break it, so to speak--but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak? My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well, upon this whole subject. The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the executive, as such, has nothing to do with it.
I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. Fellow-Citizens of the United States: IN compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of this office. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority.
In our present differences is either party without faith of being in the right? He lost the election for Senate that year to the powerful incumbent, Stephen Douglas. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever ā it being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. They have conducted it through many perils; and, generally, with great success. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. The Wall Street Journal.
I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. More than anything else in the address, it was the tender spirit and chaste beauty of these closing words that convinced the people that Lincoln measured up to the high mental stature demanded of one who was to be their leader during the most critical period of the life of the nation. I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by state authority; but surely that difference is not a very material one. . Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by state authority; but surely that difference is not a very material one.
They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath? The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. One party to a contract may violate itābreak it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Whoever rejects it does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional. I do not forget the position, assumed by some, that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any case, upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the government. Whoever rejects it, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism.
The Constitution does not expressly say. This left the Republican Party, which wanted to limit slavery, with an opportunity for an electoral victory. Must Congress protect slavery in the territories? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitutionāto this provision as much as to any other.
The Union is much older than the Constitution. The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised according to circumstances actually existing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections. And should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall go unkept, on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? Retrieved 26 October 2012. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizen of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. We are not enemies, but friends. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.
The Avalon Project : First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart form my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that holding such a provision to now by implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? We must not be enemies.
