In matters of Religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the constitution independant of the powers of the general government. Lincoln recognized how crucial this first inaugural address would be to the Southern states considering secession. Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address, given on March 4, 1801, was a speech that outlined his vision for the country and his priorities as President. We too have had our trials and difficulties. Seven Southern states had already seceded, or broken away, from the United States and formed the Confederacy. Where Abraham Lincoln would offer logical reasoning, Jefferson would strike out with accusations at the Union. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. if, among these taxes, some minor ones fall, which had not been inconvenient, it was because their amount would not have paid the officers who collected them: and because if they had any merit, the state-authorities might adopt them instead of others less approved. Jeffersons painstaking work in preparing the reading copy was worthwhile in allowing him to put the full text of the speech on the two faces of the single sheet. When the independence of the Confederate States is recognized by the nations of the earth, and we are free to follow our interests and inclinations by cultivating foreign trade, the Southern States will offer to manufacturing nations the most favorable markets which ever invited their commerce. that our wish, as well as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public good: that peace be cultivated, civil & religious liberty unassailed, law & order preserved, equality of rights maintained, & that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own industry, or that of his fathers. P.O. For example, the Confederacy had an executive branch modeled on the U.S.'s, which was in charge of a postal service, making foreign trades, and overseeing the military. Lincoln still passionately believed that the union was worth fighting for and assured Americans that the soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg 'shall not have died in vain.' the larger our association, the less will it be shaken by local passions. This website helped me pass! In the 6 Mch. A new Government has been established, and its machinery put in operation over an area exceeding seven hundred thousand square miles. Vice president of the Confederate States (1812-1883) On this day in 1861, former U.S. Second Inaugural Address of Jefferson Davis February 22, 1862 Fellow-Citizens: On this the birthday of the man most identified with the establishment of American independence, and beneath the monument erected to commemorate his heroic virtues and those of his compatriots, we have assembled to usher into existence the Permanent Government of the Confederate States. Source "Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address," The Papers of Jefferson Davis, accessed March . In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have endeavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, & especially of those with which we have the most important relations. Chapter 14 - #1. It is a satisfaction that we have maintained the war by our unaided exertions. Davis_Inauguration-536. they too have their Anti-Philosophists, who find an interest in keeping things in their present state; who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendancy of habit over the duty of improving our reason, & obeying its mandates. Delaware and Maryland, both slave states, did not vote to secede. endowed with the faculties & the rights of men, breathing an ardent love of liberty and independance, & occupying a country which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population from other regions directed itself on these shores. Many were incorporated into Smiths copy, and others were added to both copies via editorial marks. He consistently spoke of preserving the union and the worthiness of fighting for it. Whatever of hope some may have entertained that a returning sense of justice would remove the danger with which our rights were threatened, and render it possible to preserve the Union of the Constitution, must have been dispelled by the malignity and barbarity of the Northern States in the prosecution of the existing war. Rice University--MS 215 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. In his opinion, the country's power rested in the individual states, and not in a strong central government. War Democrats, border states, and Republicans. Jefferson Davis (pictured here on the eve of the Civil War) delivered his second inaugural address in Richmond, Virginia, on February 22, 1862. . Abraham Lincoln was reelected to a second term as President of the United States in 1865. . Neither of Jefferson's predecessors as president had given a second inaugural address. Houston, Texas 77251-1892, Phone and Fax Numbers Jeffersons meticulous drafting process was not understood previously, and despite the widespread circulation of the text in 1805 the second inaugural address has received significantly less scholarly attention than his first address. Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally, as auguring harmony & happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. 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A new Government has been established, and its machinery put in operation over an area exceeding seven hundred thousand square miles. Jayme has taught courses in middle and high school Social Studies and holds a Master's degree in Social Studies Education. On the other side of the political aisle, the. With these techniques, Jefferson rendered the sentence The Aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have regarded with the commiseration their history inspires as: The sentence I have therefore undertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it appears as: And they too have their Anti-Philosophists, who find an interest he copied as: Visible in those examples are additional markings that do not represent letters of the alphabet. Almost all Americans have heard these opening words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln in his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863. Second Inaugural Address Washington, DC. Citizens of the Confederate States of America. In return for their kindness I can offer assurances of the gratitude with which it is received; and can but pledge a zealous devotion of every faculty to the service of those who have chosen me as their Chief Magistrate. in time of war, if injustice by ourselves or others must sometimes produce war, increased as the same revenue will be by increased population & consumption, & aided by other resources reserved for that crisis, it may meet within the year all the expences of the year, without encroaching on the rights of future generations by burthening them with the debts of the past. He described how it is 'the right of the people to alter or abolish' (get rid of) the government at will 'whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established.' Jefferson Davis' First Inaugural Address. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. Abraham Lincoln had many neutral political views, which contrasted against Jefferson Davis' bias beliefs. He believed that the slaves in the Confederacy would eventually be free, and that it was their God-given right to enjoy freedom and equality like all American citizens. Another piece from his drafting of the second inaugural address is on the same sheet as fragments of text from Jefferson's early drafting of his first and third annual messages to Congress in 1801 and 1803 ( Document II ). Three weeks later, Abraham Lincoln did likewise, with different results. This great strife has awakened in the people the highest emotions and qualities of the human soul. and, that redemption once effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition of it among the states, & a corresponding amendment of the constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, & other great objects within each state. Printers, Jefferson argued, needed to be held accountable for disseminating dishonest or licentious information. In their various addresses to the nation, they articulated their views on the role of the union, government, and liberties of the people. On March 4, 1861, Lincoln spoke to a crowd gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol after being sworn in as President. Handy vocabulary definitions are included. The Government had ceased to answer the ends for which it was ordained and established. | 22 Jefferson asked for comments from Robert Smith on 14 Feb., and received a second set of notes from Madison on the 21st. For proof of the sincerity of our purpose to maintain our ancient institutions, we may point to the Constitution of the Confederacy and the laws enacted under it, as well as to the fact that through all the necessities of an unequal struggle there has been no act on our part to impair personal liberty or the freedom of speech, of thought, or of the press. Fax: (713) 348-6172, Mailing Address: P.O. I know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved by some, from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger its union. . COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Published by Princeton University Press and copyrighted, 2021, by Princeton University Press. The great principles upon which we have been willing to hazard everything that is dear to man have made conquests for us which could never have been achieved by the sword. Which of the following is true of Jefferson Davis and his governing? But how many of you can quote an excerpt from a speech given by Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy? we are firmly convinced and we act on that conviction, that with nations, as with individuals, our interests, soundly calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties. By the character of their productions they are too deeply interested in foreign commerce wantonly to disturb it. Although perhaps not as famous as Lincoln, Jefferson Davis' words still play an important role in American history. President Lincoln also referred back to his first inauguration and reflected on the instability of the government at that time. Second Inaugural Address by Jefferson Davis (Confederate States of America) Summary In this second Inaugural Address, Davis, now President of the Confederate States, speaks from what is now the Capitol of the Confederate States of America, Richmond Virginia. In proof of this, it is to be remembered that, at the first moment of asserting their right to secession, these States proposed a settlement on the basis of the common liability for the obligations of the General Government. Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 - December 6, 1889) was an American military officer, statesman, and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as the President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865. True to our traditions of peace and our love of justice, we sent commissioners to the United States to propose a fair and amicable settlement of all questions of public debt or property which might be in dispute. The courts have been open, the judicial functions fully executed, and every right of the peaceful citizen maintained as securely as if a war of invasion had not disturbed the land. The blockade, if effectual and permanent, could only serve to divert our industry from the production of articles for export and employ it in supplying the commodities for domestic use. Second Inaugural Address. Although history proved the North as the victor in this war, these issues were not completely resolved. Jack Shorter, an enslaved stable hand at the Presidents House, may have been the groom. True to our traditions of peace and our love of justice, we sent commissioners to the United States to propose a fair and amicable settlement of all questions of public debt or property which might be in dispute. On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared the principles on which I believed it my duty to administer the affairs of our commonwealth. But he praised Lincoln's four-paragraph speech as sounding "more like a sermon . In his address, he did not embrace the North's demands for a reunion of states, which he described as 'neither practicable nor desirable.' Lincoln wanted equality for all people, including slaves, while Davis wanted the Southern states to enjoy the freedom of owning slaves if they choose. 1805], Reading Copy of Second Inaugural Address, [before 4 Mch. He directed his words at convincing them that he was not their enemy, but a friend. Upon the first call the men flew to arms, and wifes and mothers send their husbands and sons to battle without a murmur of regret. and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated them with me in the executive functions. Although each president claimed to prefer peace to war, Lincoln maintained a clear message of brotherhood and unity in his speeches. As you know, Lincoln's first inaugural address did not stop the Civil War from breaking out and dividing the rest of the country between the North and South. But in the heart of a people resolved to be free these disasters tend but to stimulate to increased resistance. 'Four score and seven years ago. . Two of those pieces can be identified and are Documents. Some of you may have even recited them in grade school. When a long course of class legislation, directed not to the general welfare, but to the aggrandizement of the Northern section of the Union, culminated in a warfare on the domestic institutions of the Southern States--when the dogmas of a sectional party, substituted for the provisions of the constitutional compact, threatened to destroy the sovereign rights of the States, six of those States, withdrawing from the Union, confederated together to exercise the right and perform the duty of instituting a Government which would better secure the liberties for the preservation of which that Union was established. being collected on our sea-board and frontiers only, & incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the pleasure and the pride of an American to ask What farmer, what mechanic, what labourer ever sees a tax-gatherer of the US.? Our people have rallied with unexampled unanimity to the support of the great principles of constitutional government, with firm resolve to perpetuate by arms the right which they could not peacefully secure. and in any view, is it not better that the opposite bank of the Missisipi should be settled by our own brethren & children than by strangers of another family? Seven Southern states. that is due in the first place to the reflecting character of our citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion, influence and strengthen the public measures. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other.' Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both believed in securing rights and freedoms for their people. Never has a people evinced a more determined spirit than that now animating men, women, and children in every part of our country. Boyd interpreted the marks as indicators for accented syllables and emphasis in reading, similar to linguistic accents that Jefferson had pondered in his 1786 essay on English prosody (see Vol. Bastiles filled with prisoners, arrested without civil process or indictment duly found; the writ of habeas corpus suspended by Executive mandate; a State Legislature controlled by the imprisonment of members whose avowed principles suggested to the Federal Executive that there might be another added to the list of seceded States; elections held under threats of a military power; civil officers, peaceful citizens, and gentle-women incarcerated for opinion's sake--proclaimed the incapacity of our late associates to administer a Government as free, liberal, and humane as that established for our common use. The abolitionist orator/editor (and former slave) had met Lincoln only twice before, and for most of the war was a fierce critic of the president's policies. It was, perhaps, in the ordination of Providence that we were to be taught the value of our liberties by the price which we pay for them. Learn more about Davis' views and how they differed from those expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his public address. It is with mingled feelings of humility and pride that I appear to take, in the presence of the people and before high Heaven, the oath prescribed as a qualification for the exalted station to which the unanimous voice of the people has called me. Through this instrumentality, under the favor of Divine Providence, we hope to perpetuate the principles of our revolutionary fathers. Leonard Levys 1963 critical interpretation of the president, Seemingly in line with that new ethos of free speech, in. Fellow-Citizens:On this the birthday of the man most identified with the establishment of American independence, and beneath the monument erected to commemorate his heroic virtues and those of his compatriots, we have assembled to usher into existence the Permanent Government of the Confederate States. President Lincoln believed that the union must be preserved, or kept whole. During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the Press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. Records Commission. I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved had enabled us to extend our limits. with which should we be most likely to live in harmony and friendly intercourse? with those too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to do so is gaining strength. We have neither asked nor received assistance from any quarter. 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