Disapproval, the Confederacy, and slavery were amongst the many crises Abraham Lincoln faced when addressing his First Inaugural speech (Lincoln, First Inaugural, p.37). Above all, Lincoln’s speech was stepping on the boundaries of the southern slave states. Once states began to secede, new territories formed and the disapproval of Lincoln grew. Despite Lincoln’s attempts of unifying the antislavery and confederate views, many whites refused to follow his untraditional beliefs. Lincoln encountered hostile and admirable emotions from the people of the Union and the Confederacy. However, despite his representation of the Union, not everyone agreed with his views. In the article, Effect of the Inaugural, Lincoln’s First Inaugural speech stirred up various mixed emotions throughout the Union. Cotton States, Border States, and Northern States each had their own views on the benefits and the betrayal of the newly formed Confederacy. The …show more content…
Thus, the information expresses personal opinions from the point of view of Lincoln and the writers who contributed to the article. Similar to Lincoln’s views, a section in the article goes against the Confederacy because they have disrupted the peace within the Union. For example, the men of the Border States fear their welfare while trying to ward off the fear of a possible great disaster (New York Tribune, 9 March 186, p.6). On the other hand, the views from the south in the article saw Lincoln and his Cabinet as enemies to the Institution of Slavery. Salmon P. Chase is seen to be one of the most offensive man to the south because of his power and influence to command and humiliate sections of where slavery exists (New York Tribune, 9 March 186, p.6). Finally, Lincolns speech is geared towards the Union as a whole rather than the article, where it’s focused on subsections of the
When Abraham Lincoln spoke at his inauguration on March 1861, the nation’s mood was grim. It was a frigid day and the sky was grey. Even worse, nobody knew how the newly-elected President, a novice lawyer, would handle the nation’s biggest problem since its inception: Southern secession. The U.S., and its grandeur and resplendence were at stake and were now reduced to nothing more than the preposterous “Disunited States of America.” Americans were in a state of perplexity, and one question remained etched in the minds of Americans: “Did the South have a legal right to secede from the Union?” No, the South did not have a legal right to secede from the Union, due to the longevity of the Union, the solidarity between the states, and the menacing implications secession entails.
At the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was
William Howard Taft’s inaugural address, delivered Thursday, March 4th, 1909, is the second-longest inaugural address delivered by a U.S. President. Taft, who also later became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, addresses a variety of issues such as the protection of U.S. business interests abroad, tariffs and protectionism, Asian immigration, the right to vote of negroes, and labour disputes. The continuation of the legacy of his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, regarding anti-trust measures, labour safety legislation, and the Open Door policy is an important theme of Taft’s speech. The speech is an example of what has become known as Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy” foreign policy, although Taft does not use that expression within his speech.
Both Lee and Lincoln had a rather emotionally detached deliverance in the content of their texts. It was for the best interest of the diverging country for Lincoln to remain impartial to the current state of the Civil War. If he were to so much as hint at blaming the North or the South for the demolition of the country and its people, it would only further divide the nation’s people. His speech is highly acclaimed for its academically influenced under...
Although Lincoln was not liked in the south; the south had to deal with th...
. .’, concludes James Oakes’ book with the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination. Oakes discussed the respect Douglass gathered for Lincoln over the years and the affect his assassination had on both himself and America as a whole. Oakes even brushed over Douglass’ relationship with Andrew Johnson, the president succeeding Lincoln. Analyzing his experience with the new president, it was safe to say that Andrew Johnson had no consideration as to what Douglass and Lincoln previously fought for. Johnson did not have the same political skills as Lincoln did, and he did not retain the same view for America that Lincoln did. It was obvious that Douglass held Lincoln at a higher standard than Andrew Johnson, stating that he was a “progressive man, a humane man, an honorable man, and at heart an anti-slavery man” (p. 269). Oakes even gave his own stance on Andrew Jackson, “It was a legacy that Andrew Johnson could ever match. When all of Lincoln’s attributes were taken into consideration - his ascent from the obscurity to greatness, his congenial temperament, his moral courage - it was easy for Douglass to imagine how much better things would be ‘had Mr. Lincoln been living today’.” (p. 262). It is hard to imagine the pre-war Douglass to have said something like that as opposed to an older, much more reserved Douglass. With the abolishment of slavery, so came much discrimination. Without
The memory of massive death was still in the front of everyone’s mind, hardening into resentment and sometimes even hatred. The south was virtually non-existent politically or economically, and searching desperately for a way back in. Along with these things, now living amongst the population were almost four million former slaves, who had no idea how to make a living on their own. They had been freed by the 13th amendment in 1865, and in the future became a great concern to many political leaders. Still, it was no secret that something had to be done. So, as usually happens, political leaders appeared on the stage, each holding their own plan of Reconstruction, each certain their ideas were the correct ones. One of the first people who came up with a blueprint for Reconstruction was the president at the time, Abraham Lincoln. The “Lincoln Plan” was a very open one, stating that after certain criteria were met a confederate state could return to the union. To rejoin, a state had to have ten percent of voters both accept the emancipation of slaves and swear loyalty to the union. Also, those high ranking officers of the state could not hold office or carry out voting rights unless the president said
Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and a reason to fight in the Civil War. Before the address, the Civil War was based on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were instilled in the Declaration of Independence by the Founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war about slavery he effortlessly ensured that no foreign country would recognize the South as an independent nation, ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, to touch the hearts of its listeners.
The irony of people being divided is also shown in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural speech in which the north is fighting against slavery and the south fighting for it. The speech is made even more poignant in which Lincoln has to make the point about abolishing slavery and has to fight for it.
One of the strongest basic values that Lincoln expressed was that the civil war as a devastating situation for most people. He expressed this by saying, “Both parties deprecated war.” Meanwhile, a more fragile basic value of his speech is the classification of the South as the destructive force and the North as the protective one. He said, “But one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive. And the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” This value splits the public into two factions (Hansen 244) that was defined by Lincoln as “good” and “bad”.
Have you ever wanted something really bad? Like maybe a new toy or a higher job position? Imagine getting that thing you wanted most after working so hard for it and then losing it right after. It must be the worst feeling ever. Now put yourself in Abraham Lincoln’s shoes. You’ve just been inaugurated as president and days later you unfortunately get assassinated. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 in Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. (Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination). Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was an untimely event that slowed down the process of reconstruction after the Civil War (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction). The assassination increased the north’s hate towards the south (The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln pg.51). With Lincoln dead, there was no one to control the Radical Republicans who wanted to punish the south (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction). When Lincoln died he was replaced by President Andrew Johnson who had a bad relationship with the Congressmen (Effect of Lincoln Death on Reconstruction).
Lincoln wished to destroy the South and instill it with ideas from the anti-slave North. Blacks would be free to work for themselves as freemen. The South took the Emancipation Proclamation as the Nation’s biggest atrocity committed on its own people in history. Some slave owning Northerners claimed it was unconstitutional and would lead to violent slave uprisings and the taking of white man’s jobs. This was an “act of justice” that needed to be signed and ratified (Chapter 14, pp. 447). Lincoln knew that this was an important moment in history when he said: “If my name ever goes into history, it was for this act” (Chapter 14, pp. 447). This is what Lincoln would be remembered for in the years to come. His name went down in history as the President
Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...
By the time of his speech South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas had already seceded from the Union. In his speech Lincoln had three main points: “to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government,” secession was impossible because the Union was unbreakable, and that any use of arms against the United States would be met with force but he would never be first to attack (Grafton 80). Lincoln aspired to increase his support in the North without alienating the South where most disliked him in fear of the end of slavery. In his speech however, Lincoln made it clear that his intention was not to interfere with slavery quoting “I have no purpose, directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so” (Grafton 81). In hope to make amends with the South Lincoln closed by saying “We are not enemies, but friends. 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” (Grafton 81). Although meant to unify the North and South, this address had a larger impact on another
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.