Lincoln inaugurated
On this day in 1861 Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States.In his inauguration speechLincoln extended an olive branch to the South but also made it clear that he intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded.Since Lincolns election in November 1860 seven states had left the Union.Worried that the election of a Republican would threaten their rights especially slavery the lower South seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.
In the process some of those states seized federal properties such as armories and forts.By the time Lincoln arrived in Washington D.C.for his inauguration the threat of war hung heavy in the air.Lincoln took a cautious approach in his remarks and made no specific threats against the Southern states.
As a result he had some flexibility in trying to keep the states of the upper SouthNorth Carolina Tennessee Virginia Arkansas Missouri Kentucky Maryland and Delawarein the Union.In his inaugural address Lincoln promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed and pledged to suspend the activities of the federal government temporarily in areas of hostility.However he also took a firm stance against secession and the seizure of federal property.The government insisted Lincoln would hold occupy and possess its property and collect its taxes.
He closed his remarks with an eloquent reminder of the nations common heritageIn your hand my 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 in Heaven to destroy the government while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve protect and defend it We are not enemies but friends.We must not be enemies.Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.
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.Six weeks later the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston South Carolina and the Civil War began.
