Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. Lincoln's First Inaugural Address was delivered on March 4, 1861, a month after seven slave states declared that they had seceded to form the Confederate States of America and a month before the Battle of Fort Sumter. Lincoln affirms his duty to maintain the Union. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. Abraham Lincoln had his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. Abraham Lincoln would give several important speeches throughout the war such as A House Divided, The Gettysburg Address, The First Inaugural Address, and The Second Inaugural Address. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln 72 ratings, 3.89 average rating, 12 reviews Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address Quotes Showing 1-1 of 1 “We are not enemies, but friends. The pentad’s agent component, Lincoln, further represented the political inequities of antebellum America. 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. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you. The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution--which amendment, however, I have not seen--has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession? One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. . In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. 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. Abraham Lincoln‘s first inaugural address was delivered on Monday, March 4, 1861, as part of his taking of the oath of office for his first term as the sixteenth President of the United States. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution–to this provision as much as to any other. View digital copies of Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address at the Library of Congress.. March 4, 1861. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have, in succession, administered the executive branch of the Government. Lincoln’s taking of the oath of office for his first term. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause “shall be delivered up,” their oaths are unanimous. Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. Narrated by Seth D. Anderson. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left. His law partner, William H. … Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. First Inaugural Address March 4, 1861 Washington, D.C. In Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address, he tried to convince the Southern States that their “personal property”, by which he meant the slaves, was not in danger. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession? In our present differences is either party without faith of being in the right? In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1861 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." While the strict legal right may exist in the government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. 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. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. In fact, Lincoln explicitly said that it was not his intention to interfere with the institution of slavery. Thanks to the division of the Democratic Party in into northern and southern factions, none of the candidates was able to run a truly national … It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. His duty is to administer the present government, as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to his successors. . It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. Abraham Lincoln became president at a time when the United States looked sure to split apart over the issue of slavery. What President number was Lincoln? ". 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. First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln, before he enters on the execution of this office. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? Lincoln states that fugitive slaves would be returned to their owners in the South. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up" their oaths are unanimous. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied? Before leaving town in January 1861, he sometimes eluded hordes of office seekers by taking refuge in his … In it Lincoln argues that the union of the states is perpetual and describes a policy of non-interference toward slavery in the South, including … Lincoln's First Inaugural Address Lincoln's First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.,€March 4, 1861 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 … President Lincoln knew the war was … Lincoln asks rhetorically about the nature of the United States. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. 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. 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. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union.". Is there any better or equal hope in the world? The first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States was held on Monday, March 4, 1861, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. Montgomery Advertiser editorial, March 5, 1861 excerpted in New York Herald, Monday, March 11, 1861. President Lincoln's First Inaugural Address focused on reassuring the Southern states that the president would not try to strip them of their slaves and that he would try to find a way to help them secure slavery if it would make them happy. Also, Morel says that Lincoln got all of his votes from … March 4, 1801. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution–certainly would if such a right were a vital one. The occasion was the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 27 June 2020 . 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. And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause–as cheerfully to one section as to another. Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address: “The better angels of our nature” January 17, 2013 “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.” by … How Historians Interpret “The audience could not be quite sure what the new President’s policy toward secession … Lincoln implores his countrymen to think carefully about the benefits of the Union before trying to destroy 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 the government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address On November 19, 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered what has become the best-known speech in American history. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. There is no other alternative; for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. Not only did have an important message but Lincoln had an interesting way of delivering this message. 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. 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. Nobody has been deprived of rights, which, given the institution of slavery, was not true. He had an important message to send to this audience. The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do with it. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. Differences of opinion would exist in any Union. 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