. The recollections of this great contest, with all its common traditions of glory, of sacrifice and blood, will be the bond of harmony and enduring affection amongst the people, producing unity in policy, fraternity in sentiment, and just effort in war. A million of men, it is estimated, are now standing in hostile array, and waging war along a frontier of thousands of miles. 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. 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. While some printers were content to reproduce the address with minimal commentary, a number of local editorialsRepublican and Federalistwrapped the text in either praise or condemnation, usually in line with the papers party affiliation. It is cultivating feelings of patriotism, virtue, and courage. 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. 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. 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. I have therefore undertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it: but have left them, as the constitution found them, under the direction & discipline of the state or church authorities acknoleged by the several religious societies. 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. Lincoln recognized how crucial this first inaugural address would be to the Southern states considering secession. 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. It is not an authoritative final version. Recognizing that his treatment of the topic of Philosophy in the address was unorthodox, he apparently wrote the Notes on a Draught for a second inaugural Address to memorialize the decision for his ongoing record of his own times. 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. In his address, he did not embrace the North's demands for a reunion of states, which he described as 'neither practicable nor desirable.' | 22 Citizens of the Confederate States of America. 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. Yet for all the effort and thought he invested in making the copy a script for oral delivery, as an oration the address failed. The first year in our history has been the most eventful in the annals of this continent. 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. 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. Fax: (713) 348-6172, Mailing Address: P.O. 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. 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. The remaining revenue, on the consumption of foreign articles, is paid chiefly by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic comforts. 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. Source "Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address," The Papers of Jefferson Davis, accessed March . After a series of successes and victories, which covered our arms with glory, we have recently met with serious disasters. Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally, as auguring harmony & happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. the address took final form. 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. Sometime between that date and 4 Mch. In their various addresses to the nation, they articulated their views on the role of the union, government, and liberties of the people. Nothing could be so bad as failure, and any sacrifice would be cheap as the price of success in such a contest. Sheridan had turned from acting to a career of public lectures and writing in 1756, becoming a key driver of an elocutionary movement that centered performance at the heart of all public speaking. In his opinion, the country's power rested in the individual states, and not in a strong central government. we have done them justice on all occasions; favor, where favor was lawful, & cherished mutual interests & intercourse on fair & equal terms. 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. Title. The Government had ceased to answer the ends for which it was ordained and established. I shall need therefore all the indulgence which I have heretofore experienced from my constituents. Create your account, 26 chapters | 10:498n). He made the decision during the drafting process, as shown by Madisons and Gallatins remarks, for in the draft they saw, resistance to change was associated with Native American society (Documents, The expression steady habits is associated with the state of Connecticut. Well, Lincoln's second inaugural address was similar in tone to his first. Three weeks later, Abraham Lincoln did likewise, to much different results. Senator Jefferson Davis took to a podium for his presidential inauguration and gave an impassioned speech about the Constitution. According to this view, he believed the Southern states could not legally leave the union. and when the constitution called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and consolatory to the friend of man, who believes that he may be trusted with the controul of his own affairs. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. 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. "Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address," The Papers of Jefferson Davis, accessed March 13, 2015, https: . Civil war there cannot be between States held together by their volition only. See this thread for more information. Therefore we are in arms to renew such sacrifices as our fathers made to the holy cause of constitutional liberty. . Printers, Jefferson argued, needed to be held accountable for disseminating dishonest or licentious information. 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. Cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, provisions, timber, and naval stores will furnish attractive exchanges. 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. 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. How did his views on the topics we just learned about evolve over those four years? 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. 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. [2] The eleven states of the CSA in order of secession were: South Carolina (December 20, 1860), Mississippi; Daviss state (January 9, 1861), Florida (January 10, 1861), Alabama (January 11, 1861), Georgia (January 19, 1861), Louisiana (January 26, 1861), Texas (February 1, 1861), Virginia April 17, 1861), Arkansas (May 6, 1861), North Carolina (May 20, 1861), and Tennessee (June 8, 1861). 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. By the character of their productions they are too deeply interested in foreign commerce wantonly to disturb it. He directed his words at convincing them that he was not their enemy, but a friend. 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. The Government had ceased to answer the ends for which it was ordained and established. 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. 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. By 17 Apr., shortly after the address had reached the frontier of the United States in Louisiana, the London. The reading is in the pictures below the answer must be at least 250 words and include a quote from the reading. Instances of self-sacrifice and of generous devotion to the noble cause for which we are contending are rife throughout the land. 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. .' 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 Presidents House to the Capitol. and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated them with me in the executive functions. but public duties more urgent press on the time of public servants and the offenders have therefore been left to find their punishment in the public indignation. Senator Jefferson Davis took to a podium for his presidential inaugural and gave an impassioned speech about the Constitution. 198-203. 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. Yet the interest involved is not wholly our own. 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. Deeply sensible of all that is implied by this manifestation of the people's confidence, I am yet more profoundly impressed by the vast responsibility of the office, and humbly feel my own unworthiness. Second Inaugural Address Washington, DC. 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.
