Abraham Lincoln Inaugural Address Analysis

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When Abraham Lincoln assumed the office of the President of the United States in 1861, he was about to face in reality what no other American president had ever had to face: a divided union. In fact, seven states in the South had already seceded and had established a new federal government for themselves – the Confederate States of America. Several other states were poised to join the new Confederacy (Wilson et al., 1990). In his inaugural address, Lincoln told the South that he would not interfere with the institution of slavery “wherever it exists” (Wilson, et al, 1990, p. ). But he went on to say that no state could legally get out of the union, and he would defend the union and not use force – unless the South forced him to do so. But,