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Abraham Lincoln's Controversial Speech

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From the time of one of the greatest presidents of all time Abraham Lincoln, there were several issues the United States faced to coexist as “One Nation Under God”. Before the inauguration of the 15th president the seeds of war were already planted and Lincoln would enter his term at a time when the United States would fight for their own rules for the country. Confederacy represented the southern states where they sought to keep the law of having slaves throughout their parts, however Lincoln would not stand for this kind of rule. He saw that the first fathers of the United States created this country for equal unalienable rights for all. For many Americans, especially African-American slaves gaining freedom was becoming one step closer and …show more content…

A few days before the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander Stephens delivers a controversial speech that explains their issues and about Abraham Lincoln becoming the next president. One of his main points Stephens makes is about slavery and more importantly the abolition of slavery. Since the beginning, founding fathers did not look far into the situation of African-American rights. The Confederacy “cornerstone” was the thought of “opposed to the equality in freedom of all human beings”. (Lawler) The southern states did not like the idea of letting all slaves be free. They are already an inferior race to mankind in the United States but, the truth of the matter is that all people living in America have the same rights as white folks and can live their lives with liberty and happiness. Alexander Stephen’s cornerstone speech was a bold statement made for the North Union to consider because they made it clear the South would fight for their culture. The Confederates leader Jefferson Davis would also contribute to the issues the Southern states. Fort Sumter was held by the Union and they were running low on supplies to survive. It was vital for their survival to acquire rationed food from the North. Davis believed that this was “an aggressive act” (Schultz). Lincoln showed that he cared for the survival of the people first and not the issues each side faced. One of his goals were to change America’s customs of slavery but also wanted to have a nation of peace. Davis concluded with tensions rising the last straw would be the firing on Fort Sumter and thus started the Civil

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