The First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

Artifact #3

Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address

In this document, President Abraham Lincoln presents his First Inaugural Address to the American people. Throughout the body of this text, he seeks to assure all of the American people that he has no intention of infringing upon their Constitutional rights, and only seeks to uphold his oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Government (the Union). He goes into a brief discussion on the issue of slavery and mentions that the Constitution includes a provision requiring that all persons "held to service or labor in one State...shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." He mentions that if he and those in Congress seek to be consistent with their oath to support the whole Constitution, they must support "this provision as much as to any other."

This message was directed particularly for the audience of those in the South thinking of secession to reassure them of what he stands for and to regain their support of the Union. Lincoln is certainly a credible and accurate source for this information, given that his position as the president requires a thorough knowledge of not only American government and politics, but also its extension into foreign policy, diplomatic relations, and the use of military. This first inaugural address is valuable in that it provides additional insight on arguments favoring the Union, and reveals how gentle Lincoln and other politicians had to be to avoid rebuffing those with an opposing viewpoint.

Besides assuring the American people that he will uphold all of the rights outlined in the Constitution, Lincoln also seeks to discredit and demoralize thoughts of secession by mentioning several reasons why it's a misguided idea. He mentions that if the South achieves secession, there is nothing stopping a similarly inclined minority group from within the South from sectioning off and seceding, as well. Additionally, if the South secedes, there is nothing requiring the North to return any of the escaped slaves because the Constitutional provision would be broken. Added to this, if the South secedes, there would be nothing barring it from strengthening the slave trade, which would be contrary to the wishes of the North. With both of these in mind, he poses the questions, "Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends?" to discourage either side from supporti

ng secession.

At the same time, Lincoln also mentions that if either side has any qualms about the state of the government, the United States is a country in which people "can exercise their constitutional right of amending [the existing Government] or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." He encourages both sides to seek amendments rather than to throw away the Union that they concomitantly fought for.

In remaining firm on his principles, he speaks objectively and logically about the issue regarding the return of escaped enslaved people. For those who argue "whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority," he effectively says it doesn't matter, because neither the enslaved person nor others really care who enforces it, only that it is enforced. But even as he mentions this and says that he will uphold and enforce all of the Constitution, he questions whether the Constitution contradicts itself, since it "guarantees that 'the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.'" Overall, he attempts not to take either side but instead to make both parties think about the logistics and feasibility of their arguments.

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