At that time secession was about to become reality. The CSA had already been founded and Jefferson Davis had become its first (and as it turned out only) president. Lincoln himself had to be smuggled into Washington such were the fears that he would assassinated en-route if details of his journey had leaked out.
Lincoln first set about assuaging the fears of the Southern States that their property was not about to be confiscated and he stated clearly the promise that he had made in campaigning that slavery would be allowed in the States where it already existed, but would not be allowed to spread any further. On that note he stated quite clearly that he believed in the rights of States to determine their own government and institutions, he also supported the rights of slave owners to reclaim slaves that had escaped to non-slave territories.
But, he also re-iterated his determination to keep the Union together and that secession was anarchy.
Lincoln thought his duty as president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate legal or constitutional action by disgruntled states.
"Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy." With this statement, Abraham Lincoln tried to show why the attempt of seven states to leave the American union peacefully was, in fact, a total violation of law and order. The Constitution required that the newly elected president of the United States take an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," and so Lincoln explained how he would keep that Union together. Exactly one month before Lincoln delivered his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, a provisional Confederate States of America had already drawn up a constitution and elected officers. Moreover, the departing president, James Buchanan, added to the new president's difficulties. While his December 1860 State of the Union Address argued that secession was not "an inherent constitutional right," Buchanan saw no constitutional provision that empowered the president "to coerce a state into submission."
Lincoln read the federal constitution differently, stating "the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend, and maintain itself." But he also affirmed that "there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority." To this end, he used his inaugural address to try to mend the rift between sections of the nation that would soon go to war. Lincoln closed his First Inaugural Address by appealing to "the better angels of our nature" as his fondest hope for preserving the union of the American states.
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At that time secession was about to become reality. The CSA had already been founded and Jefferson Davis had become its first (and as it turned out only) president. Lincoln himself had to be smuggled into Washington such were the fears that he would assassinated en-route if details of his journey had leaked out.
Lincoln first set about assuaging the fears of the Southern States that their property was not about to be confiscated and he stated clearly the promise that he had made in campaigning that slavery would be allowed in the States where it already existed, but would not be allowed to spread any further. On that note he stated quite clearly that he believed in the rights of States to determine their own government and institutions, he also supported the rights of slave owners to reclaim slaves that had escaped to non-slave territories.
But, he also re-iterated his determination to keep the Union together and that secession was anarchy.
Lincoln thought his duty as president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate legal or constitutional action by disgruntled states.
"Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy." With this statement, Abraham Lincoln tried to show why the attempt of seven states to leave the American union peacefully was, in fact, a total violation of law and order. The Constitution required that the newly elected president of the United States take an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," and so Lincoln explained how he would keep that Union together. Exactly one month before Lincoln delivered his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, a provisional Confederate States of America had already drawn up a constitution and elected officers. Moreover, the departing president, James Buchanan, added to the new president's difficulties. While his December 1860 State of the Union Address argued that secession was not "an inherent constitutional right," Buchanan saw no constitutional provision that empowered the president "to coerce a state into submission."
Lincoln read the federal constitution differently, stating "the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend, and maintain itself." But he also affirmed that "there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority." To this end, he used his inaugural address to try to mend the rift between sections of the nation that would soon go to war. Lincoln closed his First Inaugural Address by appealing to "the better angels of our nature" as his fondest hope for preserving the union of the American states.