TIMELINE Nov. 1860 Lincoln elected Dec 1860-Feb 1861 Lower South seceded Feb 18, 1861 Davis’s Inaugural Address Mar 4, 1861 Lincoln’s Inaugural Address Inaugural address – the speech where a newly elected president announces his goals as a leader. Abraham Lincoln •1809-1865 •Born in Kentucky •Member of Republican Party •Served one term in House of Representatives •Elected President of the United States in 1860 •Assassinated in 1865 Jefferson Davis •1808-1889 •Born in Mississippi •Owned 74 slaves •Fought in Mexican War •Served in both houses of Congress •Secretary of War (18531857) •First and only president of the Confederate States of America Apr 12, 1861 Fort Sumter Lincoln’s Inaugural Address March 4, 1861 "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.“ Secession is unconstitutional. As president, Lincoln will enforce the law in all the states. “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.” Lincoln promises not to interfere with slavery in the southern states. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it'.“ If there is to be war, it will be the South’s fault. Lincoln’s main goal is to defend the Union. Davis’ Inaugural Address February 18, 1861 “Our present position has been achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations. It illustrates the American idea that government rests upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish a government whenever it becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established.” The Confederacy was established on the same principles Thomas Jefferson described in the Declaration of Independence. “By virtue of this authority…the sovereign States here represented have seceded from that Union…They have formed a new alliance, but in each State its government has remained as before. The rights of person and property have not been disturbed.” The southern states have formed a new nation. Their sovereignty and their slaves are protected. “If we may not hope to avoid war, we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly engaged in it. We are doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our part, and by wanton aggression on the part of others.” If the South goes to war, it will be to defend itself against the North.
