jefferson davis second inaugural address

you have witnessed the scene. 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. A new Government has been established, and its machinery put in operation over an area exceeding seven hundred thousand square miles. The first full text that survives is the finished address, Jefferson struggled with the two additional Genl. This speech was intended to promote brotherhood amongst the North and South, and he claimed that most individuals on both sides would have preferred a peaceful outcome. Virginia, on February 22, 1862. Records Commission. According to this view, he believed the Southern states could not legally leave the union. He likely meant the undated Notes, written sometime after he had finished writing the address, to be part of his personal record of the politics of his era. Transcribed from Dunbar Rowland, ed., Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist, Volume 5, pp. 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. he who has time renders a service to public morals, & public tranquility, in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the law. A new Government has been established, and its machinery put in operation over an area exceeding seven hundred thousand square miles. Augustus John Foster, the 24-year-old secretary of the British legation in Washington, left a record of the details he observed on that day. . But the picture has its lights as well as its shadows. . 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. Never has a people evinced a more determined spirit than that now animating men, women, and children in every part of our country. but the experiment is noted to prove that, since truth & reason have maintained their ground against false opinions, in league with false facts, the Press, confined to truth, needs no other legal restraint. 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. Jefferson had begun writing the address weeks earlier. 198-203. How did his views on the topics we just learned about evolve over those four years? our fellow citizens looked on cool, & collected. these abuses of an institution, so important to freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety. His reelection proved that the majority of American citizens supported the administrations actions and remained immune to licentious printers influence. 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. But how many of you can quote an excerpt from a speech given by Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy? . Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. At the end of a line, as seen in the first two details shown above, he put a double stroke or a third mark in the form of a long cross or dagger. Before noon on Monday, the 4th of March, Jefferson mounted his horseprobably Wildair, his prized bay saddle horseand rode the mile and a half up Pennsylvania Avenue from the President's House to the Capitol. 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. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. The first year in our history has been the most eventful in the annals of this continent. In Jefferson Davis' inaugural address, he made it clear that he intended to separate from the North and give rights to slave owners. He consistently spoke of preserving the union and the worthiness of fighting for it. Once again, he did not express anger or hostility toward the South, but asked that they restore peace to the nation. Jack Shorter, an enslaved stable hand at the Presidents House, may have been the groom. The first year in our history has been the most eventful in the annals of this continent. 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. Therefore we are in arms to renew such sacrifices as our fathers made to the holy cause of constitutional liberty. I feel like its a lifeline. 4 Mch. At the darkest hour of our struggle the Provisional gives place to the Permanent Government. I fear not that any motives of interest may lead me astray. In contrast, Davis wanted to direct his energies to the new Confederacy with no interest in returning to the North. 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. It is not an authoritative final version. Sometime between that date and 4 Mch. If the acquiescence of foreign nations in a pretended blockade has deprived us of our commerce with them, it is fast making us a self-supporting and an independent people. A month later, the Civil War started in earnest, and on February 22, 1862 (and Washington's birthday), Davis gave a second inaugural address, after winning an election under the permanent Confederate constitution. his refusal to sign the Wade-Davis Bill. War will then be but a suspension of useful works; & a return to a state of peace a return to the progress of improvement. 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. preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, relating to the history of 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 . we have therefore liberally furnished them with the implements of husbandry & houshold use; we have placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity; and they are covered with the Aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves. Davis believed that because the North was restricting the rights of the Southern states, secession was 'a necessity, not a choice.' 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. Lincoln viewed the United States as a collection of states held together by an unbreakable bond. 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. It was to be expected when we entered upon this war that it would expose our people to sacrifices and cost them much, both of money and blood. The Aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have regarded with the commiseration their history inspires. Our Confederacy has grown from six to thirteen States; and Maryland, already united to us by hallowed memories and material interests, will, I believe, when able to speak with unstifled voice, connect her destiny with the South. 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. We have neither asked nor received assistance from any quarter. The confidence of the most hopeful among us must have been destroyed by the disregard they have recently exhibited for all the time-honored bulwarks of civil and religious liberty. 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. We too have had our trials and difficulties. In each of the segments illustrated above, a single long stroke appears in a high position midway along the line. He directed his words at convincing them that he was not their enemy, but a friend. 1805]. 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. It is not an authoritative final version. NHPRC The National Historical Publications and Records Commission(NHPRC) is part of the National Abraham Lincoln had many neutral political views, which contrasted against Jefferson Davis' bias beliefs. Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1801, was a statement of purpose for his presidency. At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. the suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expences, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. 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. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. 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. Davis argued that the North oppressed . Seven Southern states. Fellow-citizens, after the struggle of ages had consecrated the right of the Englishman to constitutional representative government, our colonial ancestors were forced to vindicate that birthright by an appeal to arms. He spoke, according to John Quincy Adams, in so low a voice that not half of it was heard by any part of the crowded auditory. Augustus Foster also noted that the speech was too low spoken to be heard well. The inflections carefully marked according to Sheridans principles came to nothing. To show ourselves worthy of the inheritance bequeathed to us by the patriots of the Revolution, we must emulate that heroic devotion which made reverse to them but the crucible in which their patriotism was refined. the address took final form. 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. and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated them with me in the executive functions. 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. Archives. 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. American History. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Printers, Jefferson argued, needed to be held accountable for disseminating dishonest or licentious information. Cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, provisions, timber, and naval stores will furnish attractive exchanges. But the picture has its lights as well as its shadows. 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. To show ourselves worthy of the inheritance bequeathed to us by the patriots of the Revolution, we must emulate that heroic devotion which made reverse to them but the crucible in which their patriotism was refined. 1805], To Samuel Harrison Smith, [ca. In 1862, he added emancipation, finding it a military necessity. Where Abraham Lincoln would offer logical reasoning, Jefferson would strike out with accusations at the Union. Jefferson Davis (pictured here on the eve of the Civil War) delivered his second inaugural address in Richmond, Virginia, on February 22, 1862. . Women in the Civil War: Facts & Roles | How Did the Civil War Affect Women? President Lincoln also referred back to his first inauguration and reflected on the instability of the government at that time. topics (general topics): the advantages of a peaceful system that made possible a favorable state of public finances in which the country had the ability to pay off its debts and eliminate internal taxes; removals from office; a third topic that he named only as Philosophy; and finally licentiousness of press (see, Using a process that he had come to employ in composing his annual messages to Congress, he proceeded to draft each of the topical sections independently. 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. Many were incorporated into Smiths copy, and others were added to both copies via editorial marks. 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. without power to divert, or habits to contend against it, they have been overwhelmed by the current, or driven before it. The world at large is concerned in opening our markets to its commerce. Tuesday, January 20, 1953. . The optimism which some had had at the beginning of the war had faded away. we have done them justice on all occasions; favor, where favor was lawful, & cherished mutual interests & intercourse on fair & equal terms. Although each president claimed to prefer peace to war, Lincoln maintained a clear message of brotherhood and unity in his speeches. Handy vocabulary definitions are included. I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow-citizens have again called me, & shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which they have approved. He made it clear that he did not approve of its practice and denounced slavery as one of the 'offenses' of God, who 'wills to remove' it from America. Fax: (713) 348-6172, Mailing Address: P.O. 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. Two of those pieces can be identified and are Documents. Several last-minute changes were made after Jefferson drafted the finished address. Nor have the material sacrifices of the past year been made without some corresponding benefits. The Papers of Jefferson Davis But we knew the value of the object for which we struggled, and understood the nature of the war in which we were engaged. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis both believed in securing rights and freedoms for their people. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892 |, 713-348-0000 | Privacy Policy | Web Accessibility | Campus Carry, Volume 10 (October 1863-August 1864) Index, Volume 11 (September 1864-May 1865) Index. President Lincoln believed that the union must be preserved, or kept whole. Nor would the constancy of these supplies be likely to be disturbed by war. Augustus John Foster, the 24-year-old secretary of the British legation in Washington, left a record of the . To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. When he started is not known, as he did not put dates on any of the surviving draft fragments. With confidence in the wisdom and virtue of those who will share with me the responsibility and aid me in the conduct of public affairs; securely relying on the patriotism and courage of the people, of which the present war has furnished so many examples, I deeply feel the weight of the responsibilities I now, with unaffected diffidence, am about to assume; and, fully realizing the inequality of human power to guide and to sustain, my hope is reverently fixed on Him whose favor is ever vouchsafed to the cause which is just. Jefferson Davis Sets the Tone. 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. 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