"Inaugural Address of the President of the United States on the Fourth of March, 1861".
- Creator(s):
- Lincoln, Abraham.
- Title:
- "Inaugural Address of the President of the United States on the Fourth of March, 1861".
- Description:
- In his First Inaugural Address, seen here in a rare Senate printing, President Lincoln decried secession as unconstitutional and undemocratic. By then, seven of an eventual eleven southern states had declared that they were seceding to form the Confederate States of America. Lincoln affirmed to the South that his administration would not interfere with slavery where it was and also held fast to his anti-slavery commitment by firmly opposing any expansion of slavery. He spoke directly to the seceding states: “You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.” Many abolitionists and enslaved people, however, believed that the war for emancipation had arrived.
- Source:
- Photograph by Vincent Dilio. Courtesy of David M. Rubenstein.
- Citation:
- Lincoln, Abraham. "Inaugural Address of the President of the United States on the Fourth of March, 1861". [Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office], 1861.