LAD #12: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Lincoln delivered this address on March 4, 1861 and he touched mainly on the slave-holding interests in the South. He went into detail with and described his views on:

1. Strongest possible federal support for the Fugitive Slave Law
2. He wanted to make it clear that the laws in the nation would be upheld in all of the states, hence his oath: "to preserve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution".
3. Unless he had to execute his need to hold, occupy, and possess the property belonging to the government, there would be no invasion of the South in any way.
4. "To form a more perfect union" was the reason that Constitution was established (much more than the Articles of Confederation). He also stated that the Constitution was just a contract, and people could not be repremanded for not following it unless there was an agreement between all of the parties involved.
5. As to the Corwin amendment that had already been approved by both houses to protect slavery in the states that it had already existed in, he had no objections to it. He simply thought that those rights were already protected through the Constitution.
6. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say what can or cannot be done regarding slavery in the nation, as well as expansion into the West.
7. Mails would still be in continuation.