First Inaugural Address

Summary

Abraham Lincoln took the oath on 4 March 1861 on the East Portico of a Capitol whose new dome was still unfinished. Seven states of the lower South had declared secession and formed the Confederate States of America; Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor was still held by a small federal garrison. Chief Justice Roger Taney, author of the Dred Scott opinion, administered the oath. The address is a lawyer's argument followed by a plea. Lincoln begins by trying to calm the South. Quoting his own earlier speeches, he repeats: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists." He promises to enforce the fugitive slave clause and says he takes the oath "with no mental reservations." The middle of the address argues that "the Union of these States is perpetual." The Union is older than the Constitution, formed in 1774, matured in 1776 and 1778, and made "more perfect" in 1787; a contract cannot be lawfully unmade by one party alone. "Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy," since a minority that secedes today must face secession from its own minority tomorrow. Lincoln will hold federal property and collect duties but promises no invasion: "The Government will not assail you." He names the real dispute plainly: one section thinks slavery right and to be extended, the other thinks it wrong and to be restricted. And "Physically speaking, we can not separate." The close turns from argument to appeal. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war." He ends: "We are not enemies, but friends," trusting that the "mystic chords of memory" will yet be touched "by the better angels of our nature."

Plot or Argument

• Reassurance to the South

  Lincoln quotes his past pledge not to interfere with slavery where it exists, affirms the fugitive slave clause, and takes the oath without mental reservation.

• The perpetual Union

  He argues from universal law, the Constitution, and the history of 1774-1787 that no state can lawfully secede, so the laws must be executed in all the states.

• Majority rule and the anarchy of secession

  Lincoln reasons that secession breeds further secession, that a restrained majority is the only true sovereign of a free people, and that the sections cannot physically separate.

• Friends, not enemies

  He places the issue of civil war in the hands of the dissatisfied, sets their lack of any oath to destroy against his solemn oath to defend, and appeals to the mystic chords of memory.

Lessons

• Law before force

  Lincoln argues that the Union is perpetual in law before he says anything about force, and then limits force to holding federal property and collecting duties. The order matters: power is justified by law and restrained by it.

  • What steps does Lincoln trace from 1774 to 1787 to show that the Union is older than the Constitution?
  • Why does he compare the Union to a contract that one party cannot lawfully rescind?
  • How does the promise "The Government will not assail you" limit Lincoln's own options in the weeks ahead?

• Secession as anarchy

  "Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy." Lincoln's point is that a minority unwilling to accept constitutional majority decisions has no principle to stop its own subdivision. Students can trace the logic and test it against the Confederate claim to self-government.

  • Why does Lincoln think a new confederacy could not "prevent renewed secession"?
  • Which constitutional questions does Lincoln say the Constitution does not expressly answer, and how should such disputes be settled?
  • Lincoln claims that rejecting the majority principle leaves only "anarchy or despotism in some form." Is he right?

• The appeal to memory

  After the argument, Lincoln turns to the "mystic chords of memory" stretching from battlefield and patriot grave to every hearthstone. He gives up none of his legal position; he asks hearers to remember what they share before they act.

  • What memories does Lincoln mean by the "mystic chords," and who shares them?
  • Why does he say the dissatisfied have "no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government"?
  • Did the closing appeal fail, given what followed at Fort Sumter in April? What would success have looked like for such a speech?

Context

After Lincoln's election, South Carolina seceded in December 1860, six more states followed by February 1861, and delegates at Montgomery formed the Confederacy. The Crittenden Compromise had failed in Congress and the Washington Peace Conference produced no settlement. Six weeks after the inauguration, Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter (12 April 1861), and four more states seceded.

Composition

Lincoln drafted the address in Springfield and revised it on the advice of William Seward, who proposed a conciliatory closing that Lincoln rewrote into its final "mystic chords" form. The text stored here follows the Project Gutenberg transcription (#4938).

Reception

Many Southern papers read the address as a threat of coercion, while many Northern readers found it both firm and conciliatory. Its closing paragraph is among the most quoted passages in American oratory.

Comparisons

• Second Inaugural Address

  In 1861 Lincoln hopes argument and friendship can prevent war; in 1865 he reads the war as judgment on both sections for slavery. Together the two inaugurals show the same mind before and after four years of bloodshed.

• House Divided Speech

  The 1858 speech predicted the Union could not endure "permanently half slave and half free"; the 1861 address, seeking to hold the border states, stresses legal guarantees instead, letting students weigh consistency against circumstance.

• The Gettysburg Address

  The "mystic chords" passage and the Gettysburg dedication both turn soldiers' graves into a civic bond; in 1861 the graves are those of the Revolution, in 1863 those of the war Lincoln had hoped to avoid.

• First Inaugural Address (Jefferson)

  Jefferson in 1801 held that error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it; Lincoln in 1861 tests that confidence against a minority that refuses the result of an election.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Lincoln's quotation of his own earlier speeches as evidence of his intentions.
• The historical argument that the Union is older than the Constitution.
• The distinction between holding federal property and invading a state.
• The shift from argument to appeal in the final paragraph.

Key terms and names

Secession

A state's claimed withdrawal from the Union; seven states had declared it by February 1861.

Perpetual Union

Lincoln's legal claim, drawn partly from the Articles of Confederation, that the Union cannot be dissolved by one party.

Fugitive slave clause

Article IV, Section 2, requiring the return of persons held to service who fled to another state; Lincoln pledges to enforce it.

Fort Sumter

The federal fort in Charleston harbor whose garrison Lincoln meant to hold; Confederate guns fired on it on 12 April 1861.

Majority rule

Decision by the greater number within constitutional checks, which Lincoln calls the only true sovereign of a free people.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What does Lincoln say about slavery in the states where it already exists?
2. Comprehension Which federal actions does Lincoln promise, and which does he promise not to take?
3. Interpretation Why does Lincoln quote his own earlier speeches rather than simply stating his intentions afresh?
4. Interpretation How does Lincoln's argument that secession is anarchy depend on his view of majority rule?
5. Interpretation What is the effect of contrasting the secessionists' lack of an oath with his own "most solemn one"?
6. Big Question When a minority believes a majority threatens its rights, what may it rightly do under Lincoln's reasoning?
7. Big Question Can memory and affection hold a people together when they disagree about a moral question as deep as slavery?

Faith Connections

• Mark 3:25 (Scripture)

  Jesus' saying that a house divided against itself cannot stand, which Lincoln had used in 1858, lies behind his 1861 argument that the nation cannot physically or morally separate.

• Romans 12:18 (Scripture)

  Paul's counsel to live peaceably with all men "as much as lieth in you" fits Lincoln's effort to do all his oath allowed to avoid war while leaving the decision for peace partly in others' hands.

• The Federalist No. 51 (Great Conversation)

  Madison's account of ambition checking ambition and of majority rule within constitutional limits underlies Lincoln's claim that a restrained majority is the only true sovereign of a free people.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because the Union is perpetual in law and secession leads logically to anarchy, the President must execute the laws in all the states; but since he threatens no invasion and guarantees existing rights, any civil war will be the choice of those who attack the government.

Rhetorical device: antithesis. "We are not enemies, but friends," and "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war."

Debate: Resolved: that Lincoln's First Inaugural made civil war less likely in the spring of 1861.

Memory Work

We are not enemies, but friends

mystic chords of memory

Writing Prompts

Essay: Using two quotations, explain how Lincoln joins firmness to conciliation, and judge which predominates.

Comparison with Second Inaugural Address: Compare how Lincoln explains the nation's crisis in 1861 and in 1865, attending to his reliance on law in the first and on Providence in the second.

Medical Lens

Presidential inaugurals concern constitutional politics and national crisis; they have no medical content for this library's lens.

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Divide the class into delegations from Virginia, Massachusetts, and South Carolina; each marks the three sentences of the 1861 address most likely to persuade or alarm its state.

• Dialogue

  Write a conversation between a delegate to the Virginia secession convention and an officer of the Fort Sumter garrison, each reacting to "The Government will not assail you."

• Essay

  Was Lincoln right that "the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy"? Argue from the address and one Southern declaration of the causes of secession.

Further Reading

• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, Avalon Project / GPO

  Parallel official texts for classroom comparison.

• The Rhetorical Presidency, Jeffrey K. Tulis

  A study of how inaugural and other presidential speech reshaped the office.

• Lincoln's Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words, Douglas L. Wilson

  Traces the drafting of Lincoln's major texts, including the revisions to the First Inaugural's closing.