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. 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. They are diacritical marks to assist Jefferson in the oral delivery of the address. Virginia Capitol, Richmond, February 22, 1862. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. They therefore determined to sever its bonds and establish a new Confederacy for themselves. Which of the following is true of Jefferson Davis and his governing? He continued to use the idea of a national union of sentiment to depict hardened opposition as an anomaly and the worst Federalist printers as a numerically small holdout of false and backwards thought. 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? Lincoln in his first inaugural address opens quickly by listing off many ways in which he will hold his bias and use a neutral . Students also viewed. Success crowned their efforts, and they provided for the posterity a peaceful remedy against future aggression. All rights reserved. . 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. .' President Lincoln also referred back to his first inauguration and reflected on the instability of the government at that time. with those too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to do so is gaining strength. 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. The Government had ceased to answer the ends for which it was ordained and established. After a series of successes and victories, which covered our arms with glory, we have recently met with serious disasters. Chapter 14 - #1. The president, who affects great plainness of dress and manners, was dressed all in black, including silk stockings, and was attended by his secretary and groom. The secretary was Isaac A. Coles, the young Virginian from Albemarle County who, since December, had been filling in for William A. Burwell as Jeffersons private secretary. If so, the document has kinship to his January 1804 notes of conversations with Aaron Burr and Benjamin Hichborn (Vol. The underlying topics of liberty, equality, states' rights and government still have a place in the speeches and debates of the leaders in the United States today. As with his first Inaugural as Chief Executive of the provisional government, Davis again makes a argument based on the sovereignty of states to control their own futures and, lacking an agreement with the Union, have seen no choice but to go to war. Handy vocabulary definitions are included. Davis's inaugural address sought to prove that the formation of the Confederate States of America--and his Presidency over them--was, under the terms of the founding documents of the United States, lawful and even prescribed. Through this instrumentality, under the favor of Divine Providence, we hope to perpetuate the principles of our revolutionary fathers. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. 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. But the Government at Washington, denying our right to self-government, refused even to listen to any proposals for a peaceful separation. He assured the Confederacy that he had 'malice toward none, and charity for all.' in the mean time, let us cherish them with patient affection: let us do them justice and more than justice in all competitions of interest; & we need not doubt that truth, reason, & their own interests will at length prevail, will gather them into the fold of their country, & will compleat that entire union of opinion which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony & the benefit of all its strength. Davis_Inauguration-536. I highly recommend you use this site! Lincoln hoped that he could prevent the conflict from escalating by taking a peaceful approach on the divisive issue of slavery. But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits their present course of life, to induce them to exercise their reason, follow its dictates, & change their pursuits with the change of circumstances, have powerful obstacles to encounter. The day, the memory, and the purpose seem fitly associated. the want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. In spite of his laborious attempt to discountenance the opposition to philosophy and to make a statement about the opposition press, Jefferson recognized, as he wrote in his Notes on a Draught for a second inaugural Address, that the nature of the occasion requires that detail should be avoided. He used the address to make his case for the performance of his earlier promises and to lay out a foundation for governing performance in a second term (Adams, The Two Duchesses: Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, Elizabeth Duchess of Devonshire. I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved had enabled us to extend our limits. In February of 1861, just two months before the official start of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural address to the Confederacy as its new leader. Battles have been fought, sieges have been conducted, and, although the contest is not ended, and the tide for the moment is against us, the final result in our favor is not doubtful. In contrast, Davis wanted to direct his energies to the new Confederacy with no interest in returning to the North. In February of 1861, just two months before the official start of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural address to the Confederacy as its new leader. With humble gratitude and adoration, acknowledging the Providence which has so visibly protected the Confederacy during its brief but eventful career, to thee, O God, I trustingly commit myself, and prayerfully invoke thy blessing on my country and its cause. In February of 1861, just two months before the official start of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural address to the Confederacy as its new leader. This website helped me pass! We will then compare those views with President Lincoln as stated in his two inaugural addresses and Gettysburg Address. After a series of successes and victories, which covered our arms with glory, we have recently met with serious disasters. It is not an authoritative final version. Davis was inaugurated and hoped that his role would only be temporary until the permanent government was established. In matters of Religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the constitution independant of the powers of the general government. Summary In his first Inaugural Address as "Chief Executive" of the Confederate States, Davis justifies secession by asserting the rights of sovereign states to govern themselves, particularly with regards to economics and defense, and argues that the United States Constitution no longer functions as a document for all people as it was intended. It is cultivating feelings of patriotism, virtue, and courage. "Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address," The Papers of Jefferson Davis, accessed March 13, 2015, https: . Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you In that address he explicitly condemned political intolerancedeclared all were federalists, all were republicansYet in a few days after that, he removed many deserving men from office, because they were federalists. He also criticized Jefferson as imprudent for explicitly censuring & condemning former Administrations & lavishing encomiums on himself for effecting a discontinuance of the Internal Revenues, and for his expansive complaints about abuse by the press: One would have thought that Mr. Jefferson after having hired such infamous wretches as Freneau, Bache, Duane, Callender, Payne & others, to defame villify & calumniate, Washington, Adams, & their associateshe would not have complained of news paper publications! But even Plumer admitted that Jefferson has his talents& those of the popular kind, since it was an important practice for him to never pursue a measure if it becomes unpopular (Brown, John Tyler expressed the opposite view in a letter to Jefferson, writing that without flattery, the address adds a Lustre to the whole of your Life if any thing coud be necessary to highten your public Character. He anticipated that any who continued to oppose Jeffersons administration must see the soundness of the reasoning, and the temper and philanthropy with which it is expressd, and it would have the happyest effect on every person not so vicious as to persist in Spite of Light and truth in a perverse Opinion. Jefferson replied with appreciation, reiterating to Tyler that performance was the proper office of the second inaugural, in contrast to profession and promise in the first. Lincoln wanted equality for all people, including slaves, while Davis wanted the Southern states to enjoy the freedom of owning slaves if they choose. Julian Boyd linked the markings on that early version of the Declaration to the marks present in this reading script. . Jefferson Davis was again selected to remain as the President of the newly formed government and commenced to give his second inaugural address on the 22 nd of February, 1862 in front of a monument to George Washington at . P.O. Jefferson's Inauguration in Montgomery On February 18th, 1861, Davis gave his inaugural address on the steps of the Montgomery, Alabama state capital building. His reelection proved that the majority of American citizens supported the administrations actions and remained immune to licentious printers influence. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Through this instrumentality, under the favor of Divine Providence, we hope to perpetuate the principles of our revolutionary fathers. Second Inaugural Address Washington, DC. they are combated by the habits of their bodies, prejudices of their minds, ignorance, pride, & the influence of interested & crafty individuals among them, who feel themselves something in the present order of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. 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. 198-203. Some of you may have even recited them in grade school. Box 1892 Yet the interest involved is not wholly our own. In each of the segments illustrated above, a single long stroke appears in a high position midway along the line. Davis argued that the North oppressed the South through its disapproval of slavery, a practice vital to its economy and culture. these contributions enable us to support the current expences of the government, to fulfill contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native right of soil within our limits, to extend those limits, & to apply such a surplus to our public debts, as places at a short day their final redemption. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both believed in securing rights and freedoms for their people. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. 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. But in the heart of a people resolved to be free these disasters tend but to stimulate to increased resistance. Well, Lincoln's second inaugural address was similar in tone to his first. How did his views on the topics we just learned about evolve over those four years? 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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. Jefferson Davis History & Facts | Who was President of the Confederacy? They resemble marks that Jefferson put on a draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Senator Jefferson Davis took to a podium for his presidential inauguration and gave an impassioned speech about the Constitution. Deeply sensible of all that is implied by this manifestation of the peoples confidence, I am yet more profoundly impressed by the vast responsibility of the office, and humbly feel my own unworthiness. Proceeding, fellow citizens, to that qualification which the constitution requires before my entrance on the charge again conferred on me, it is my duty to express the deep sense I entertain of this new proof of confidence from my fellow citizens at large, and the zeal with which it inspires me so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just expectations. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. The constitutions of each government were similar as well, with a key difference that the Constitution of the Confederacy guaranteed the right to own slaves. He . In his opinion, the country's power rested in the individual states, and not in a strong central government. On the other side of the political aisle, the. . 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. Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1801, was a statement of purpose for his presidency. Whether a government, conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution with zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling the whole world should witness, can be written down by falsehood & defamation? Davis helped set up a new government in the Confederacy, with the goal of making it similar to the United States. preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, relating to the history of 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. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States during the war, stated that the state is the most important entity and that states have the authority to ignore laws that are unconstitutional. these covering our land with officers, & opening our doors to their intrusions, had already begun that process of domiciliary vexation, which, once entered, is scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of property & produce. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln said that slavery "was, somehow, the . Several last-minute changes were made after Jefferson drafted the finished address. Records Commission (NHPRC) is part of the National Never has a people evinced a more determined spirit than that now animating men, women, and children in every part of our country. An error occurred trying to load this video. Second Inaugural Address. Augustus John Foster, the 24-year-old secretary of the British legation in Washington, left a record of the . But in the heart of a people resolved to be free these disasters tend but to stimulate to increased resistance. On March 4, 1861, Lincoln spoke to a crowd gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol after being sworn in as President. The optimism which some had had at the beginning of the war had faded away. 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. Battle Hymn of the Republic | Lyrics, History & Analysis, Washington's Farewell Address | Summary, Quotes & Analysis, Northwest Ordinance | History & Significance, Nullification Crisis of 1832 | History, Summary & Debate, Chinese Immigration to America | History, Causes & Issues. It is a satisfaction that we have maintained the war by our unaided exertions. We have neither asked nor received assistance from any quarter. and history bears witness to the fact, that a just nation is trusted on its word, when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others. The tyranny of an unbridled majority, the most odious and least responsible form of despotism, has denied us both the right and the remedy. They believed that to remain longer in the Union would subject them to a continuance of a disparaging discrimination, submission to which would be inconsistent with their welfare, and intolerable to a proud people. 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. Davis argued that the North oppressed . To save ourselves from a revolution which, in its silent but rapid progress, was about to place us under the despotism of numbers, and to preserve in spirit, as well as in form, a system of government we believed to be peculiarly fitted to our condition, and full of promise for mankind, we determined to make a new association, composed of States homogeneous in interest, in policy, and in feeling. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. In this speech, he hoped to inspire the audience to not let the work of these soldiers go unfinished, but to have 'increased devotion to the great task remaining before us,' the task of bringing the union back together. Therefore we are in arms to renew such sacrifices as our fathers made to the holy cause of constitutional liberty. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. 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. Absent from the scene were some members of Congress who had left for home after the close of the session the previous day (Augustus Foster to Frederick Foster, 1 July 1805, in Vere Foster, ed., To deliver his inaugural address, Jefferson had prepared a special reading copy that is unlike any other document in his papers (see. 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. He also humbly held that he was restricted to only the most prominent heads and the strongest justifications. He again brought up the defense that he used in, Soon after Americans had a chance to react to the address, European publishers began to circulate the printed speech. 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