On March 4th, 1861, Abraham Lincoln presented his inaugural speech. In it, Lincoln addressed the South's fears of losing their rights to owning slaves. He clearly starts off by noting their anxiety, and telling them that he has no intentions against them or their right to slavery, even though the party in government has changed to the Republican Party. He then says that he has no right to remove slavery. He promises that any slaves who escape to free states do not get to be free, and if caught, they will be brought back to their owners. He then directs the South to the fact that they signed the Constitution and therefore, as a result, are "locked into" the Union. He goes on to say that violent actions taken against the government will be considered "treason" against the government, and only then will he need to enforce laws. He then says that the country must stay together because it is a union, one part without the other will not last. The ends by saying that the Union must have peace with one another, that no one section should be divided against another section, in order to maintain a stable government.
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