Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

By: Adria Wilson, Ava McKula, Conor Hogarth, and Vivi Corre

The Election of 1860: Candidates

Abraham Lincoln: Northern Republican party•His home state was Illinois

•180 electoral votes •39.8 percent of the votes

•Was not against slavery•Did not want slavery to end

John Bell: The Constitutional Union party•His home state was Tennessee•39 electoral votes•12.6 percent of the vote

•Large slave holder•Opposed to slavery expanding

John Breckinridge: Southern Democrat•His home state was Kentucky•72 electoral votes•18.1 percent of votes•He wished to protect slaveholders•He supports southern secession•fun fact: He was a confederate

general in The Civil War

Stephen A. Douglas: Democrat•His home town was Illinois•12 electoral votes•29.4 percent of the votes•He blames the agitation and conflict

over slavery on abolitionists

The Electoral College

•A System that determined how much of a say each state got in the election•A Process, not a place•Established by the founding fathers•There were 303 electoral votes total•152 votes needed to win

Secession•The action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body,

especially a political state.•Lincoln believed that secession was completely wrong and unlawful. •Lincoln thought that it was unconstitutional to secede.•Seceded states are farther South than others•The climate in the seceded states was warmer which means more cotton which means

more slaves•Seven states seceded after Lincoln’s election. Those were the lower Southern states•Four states secede after Fort Sumter. Those were the upper Southern states

Fort Sumter• Fort Sumter was located in Charleston South Carolina• Major Robert Anderson was in charge of the fort•Fort Sumter is what some might say the beginning of the war• Confederate officials forced Union troops to leave their fort but they did not•Lincoln’s dilemma in this was that the troops in the fort only had a months worth of food

left.•The way that lincoln “fixed” this was he told Jefferson Davis that he was going to send food

but it might take a little longer to get there.• Jefferson told Beauregard that he had to go and force Anderson out of the fort•On April 12, 1861 Beauregard charged the fort and sent cannon balls at it and destroyed it

so the union retreated and gave up.•The public responded very happily to this occasion they had parties and picnics like it was

the fourth of july because the war had finally begun. It was treated as a celebration.

Abraham Lincolns Goals for Unity

•Lincoln wanted the South and the North to be agreeable and at peace

•He wanted a Union where secession was not a problem•Lincoln had many goals of the ideal union, he wanted peace

over the on going fight over slavery•Lincoln wanted the government to be strong

Time Line

November 6, 1860- Abraham Lincoln is elected presidentDecember 20, 1860- South Carolina secedes from the UnionJanuary-February- Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas secedeFebruary 9, 1861- The Confederate States of America is formedMarch 4, 1861- Lincoln give his first Inaugural Address speechMarch 5, 1861- Confederate officials demand Anderson leavesApril 12, 1861- The attack on Fort SumterApril 17, 1861- Virginia secedes from the UnionApril 17-March- Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina secede from the Union to join the Confederacy

Important Quotes From Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address• “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies”• “Fellow-Citizens of the the United States”• “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.• “In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority.”