Below is a reading of Lincoln's July 4th Address
When war broke out in April of 1861, the U.S. Congress was in recess, meaning many Congressmen were away from the Capital. Due to the emergency nature of the Civil War, Congress was called back into extraordinary session on the Fourth of July, 1861. When Congress convened, President Lincoln gave an address to its members in which he set forth his reasoning for suspending some civil liberties starting in April. As you read excerpts from Lincoln's address (the full text of which can be found here), ask yourself if Lincoln had a better argument than Taney did. Lincoln opens his speech by describing the circumstances upon his taking office:
"At the beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, the functions of the Federal Government were found to be generally suspended within the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the Post Office Department... armed forces had been organized, and were organizing, all avowedly with the same hostile purpose"
Lincoln continues by focusing on the precariousness of the situation for the American government. As you read the passage below, consider the effective way in which Lincoln leaves his audience, Congress, with an excellent understanding of the dire circumstances he faced as President.
"The Forts remaining in the possession of the Federal government, in, and near, these States, were either besieged or menaced by warlike preparations; and especially Fort Sumter was nearly surrounded by well-protected hostile batteries, with guns equal in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering the latter as perhaps ten to one. A disproportionate share, of the Federal muskets and rifles, had somehow found their way into these States, and had been seized, to be used against the government. Accumulations of the public revenue, lying within them, had been seized for the same object. The Navy was scattered in distant seas; leaving but a very small part of it within the immediate reach of the government. Officers of the Federal Army and Navy, had resigned in great numbers; and, of those resigning, a large proportion had taken up arms against the government. Simultaneously, and in connection, with all this, the purpose to sever the Federal Union, was openly avowed."
Lincoln next spoke of the secession of the Confederate states:
"In accordance with this purpose, an ordinance had been adopted in each of these States, declaring the States, respectively, to be separated from the National Union. A formula for instituting a combined government of these states had been promulgated; and this illegal organization, in the character of confederate States was already invoking recognition, aid, and intervention, from Foreign Powers."
Abraham Lincoln viewed the Confederate secession as illegal, since the Union could not be dissolved, an argument he laid out in his First Inaugural Address. Click here to go to Dickinson College's House Divided page on his First Inaugural. Before we continue, let's stop here for a minute to answer the fundamental question of the Civil War. Do you think a state has the right to secede from the United States?
Lincoln continues by telling Congress he only desired peace, and is careful to note that he states he stayed within the bounds of the Constitution in his actions:
"The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful measures, before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought only to hold the public places and property, not already wrested from the Government, and to collect the revenue; relying for the rest, on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of the mails, at government expense, to the very people who were resisting the government; and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbance to any of the people, or any of their rights. Of all that which a president might constitutionally, and justifiably, do in such a case, everything was foreborne, without which, it was believed possible to keep the government on foot."
Finishing the first part of the speech, he reminds Congress of what is at stake for America, and democracy itself:
"This issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic, or a democracy---a government of the people, by the same people---can, or cannot, maintain its territorial integrity, against its own domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control administration, according to organic law, in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or on any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence, break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth."
Let us continue to part 2 of Lincoln's July 4th Address by clicking the button below.