Analysis Of Lincoln's Inaugural Address

The division between the united states began in the early 1800’s due to the different beliefs the northern and southern states shared. The disunion had began long before Lincoln’s election, but his inaugural address was the commence of an unfair war between the north and south. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the union after Lincoln was elected president. They were followed by six more states who shared the fear of Lincoln terminating all slavery in the south. In his inaugural speech, Lincoln assured all slave states that although he was against the expansion of slavery, he would not abolish it. He claimed he would not interfere with slavery where it existed and and that all he wanted was to prevent war and preserve the …show more content…
He captioned one “This is the way the North received it” were he portrayed Lincoln holding a scale balancing both the free and slave states in one hand and a pen in the other where he wrote “peace”. The north saw Lincoln as peacemaker who only seeked equality. The laurel wreath crown he wears on his head and the pillar behind him also represent how the north almost perceived him as a God, since wreaths were only awarded to victors in Greece and to successful commanders in Rome. Nast captioned the second one “This is the way the South received it” were he portrayed Lincoln as furious gladiator stomping over a confederate soldier. The south viewed Lincoln as an aggressive conqueror who overpowered them. The caricature portrayed and obvious difference in size between Lincoln and the southern soldier and Lincoln looking down at him with a bloody sword commanding him to surrender while he lays helplessly trying to defend himself. Nast’s cartoon illustrated the truth since the north did in fact over power the south economically. They also had the unfair advantage that most battles were fought in southern territory leaving the north undisturbed to make better weapons and uniforms for their soldiers and crop food to feed their soldiers while the south did …show more content…
Stephens gave his famous “Cornerstone Speech”. Stephens began his speech by sharing the belief of the north that the “enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically”(cornerstone speech). He continued to say those beliefs were fundamentally wrong because there was no such thing as equality of races. Stephens then stated the contrasting beliefs of the south that “the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition”(cornerstone speech). Throughout Stephen’s speech he continued to emphasize the “error” northers clinged to and the “truth” the southerners believed, revealing the contrasting differences between the free and slave