Alexander H. Stephens Cornerstone Speech

The Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander H Stephens was very opinionated when it came to the differences between the northern and southern states. Many of his distinctions were mostly based on his idea of the south being in the complete right and the north was lining in falsehoods. His mindset was a very common idea held by most southerners at the time of the civil war.

In the formation of the Confederacy, Stephens believed that there were basic rights and rules of nature that the Union was choosing to ignore. In his Cornerstone speech, he states that the Union constitution is based on the false idea that “ the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; That it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.”(Stephens)

In his mind, their new Confederate government “ is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” (Stephens) Stephens viewpoint fell under the impression that whites are superior to blacks in all aspects so for him even the thought of a being a part of a country where blacks are treated as equals was a very unacceptable idea. Alexander has no doubt that his argument is legitimate and true and anyone that says otherwise is going against the facts. To him, the people of the north were intelligent people but they just became lost in the fabrication of faulty thinking. He felt that the principles of the north “rested upon the assumption of the equality of races…” (Stephens)on account of his complete disregard for this idea, he felt “This was an error…”(Stephens) making the united states “a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the storm came and the wind blew.” (Stephens) He gave credence to the perception that “Those at the North who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics.”(Stephens) He considered them simple fanatics because he believed they were attempting to fight what was only natural. He felt they “were attempting to make things equal which the creator had made

During his inaugural address, he makes a point to state that “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so.”(Lincoln) Lincoln did his best to attempt to appeal to both sides but even still “To some Northerners, his remarks seemed to be too conciliatory, but to many people in the South, they sounded like a declaration of war.” (NMAH)Sometime after the inauguration Thomas Nast’ made depictions of how different the reactions were between the north and the south. His illustration of the northern point of view presented Lincoln as someone who was peacefully attempting to please everyone equally. Some northerners even saw Lincoln as far too peaceful. On the south’s side, Nast’ illustration shows how they feel Lincoln has betrayed him. They feel he is not only oppressing their rights as citizens and states but they feel personally attacked by Lincoln taking most of what he had to say as a cry for war. The south viewed him as the breaking point for the country with his election into office being the final blow to start their secession from the United