LAD 19 and LAD 20

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln delivered his First Inaugural address to the nation. He gins by saying that the people in the South are apprehensive that they will lose rights because a Republican has taken offer, but Lincoln tells them that he has no intention to get interfere with slavery in the states where it already exists. Slavery is a right that the state chooses, not the federal government, so Lincoln shows the southerners that they have nothing to fear. Also, he addresses the Southerners fears of freeing fugitive slaves, saying that he will abide by the Constitution, and send the slaves back to where they came from. Lincoln states that he will do his best to follow the Constitution. Next, Lincoln confronts the problem of secession, saying that the Union was formed before the Constitution was even formed and had stood up against many trials. He says that they do not need to fight over secession, unless the national authority has to get involved. The North will not not invade the south, but only collect duties as required by law. He says that the South should not be mad, as no right in the Constitution has been denied to them, the problems in question were not addressed in the Constitution. Lincoln says that if the minority wont give in, then the majority has to otherwise the government will stop. Secession is like anarchy. Lincoln states that the country really is in the hands of the people, and they can make an amendment concerning slavery. He ends his address saying that the fate of the union is in the hands of the people, not his. The Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves in certain slaves free and stated that their freedom was to be recognized by everyone and not to be suppressed. The proclamation did not apply to Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, or West Virginia or Southern states under the Union. Lincoln told the newly freed to abstain from violence, work for a reasonable wage, and that they could be enlisted in the United States service. Previous to the Proclamation, many slaves had been escaping and fleeing to the North and this continued after the issuing of the Proclamation as well. Lincoln did not pass this through Congress but used his power as Commander-in-Chief. Although this did not officially ban slavery through the nation, it was a stepping stone towards the thirteenth amendment which eventually would