Abraham Lincoln
L is for liberty (freedom)
Quotes:“Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it-break it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?” “That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Summary: Lincoln's view on liberty was that United States was destined to be a nation with freedom and that even if slaves were not native to our nation, they a still free men. |
E for equality (fairness, equal opportunity)
Quotes: “No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.” “The Constitution which guarantees that the citizen of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?” ”Four score and seven years ago our Fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Summary: Lincoln's view on equality was that the constitution were created by the founding fathers to protect the equality between all the people of United States. |
U for union (joining the states into one U.S.government)
Quotes: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” “It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that Resolves and Ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances…” “With malice toward none; with charity toward all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” Summary: Lincoln's view on the union is that it should only be one party or else the nation will break due the differences between two nations. |
G for government (the
organization of a country and its people) Quotes: “Resolved: that the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.” “It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that Resolves and Ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances…” "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Summary: Lincoln's view on government was that our constitution was created to protect the rights of it's people and the country. |
First Inaugural Address
He focused on his support of the North without further alienating the South. For guidance and inspiration on states' rights, Lincoln turned to President Andrew Jackson's Nullification Proclamation of 1832 for example. He made his point in his speech to avoid any mention of the Union government inferring with the institution of Slavery in states where it existed and denying the authority of Congress or a territorial legislature to legalize slavery in the territories.
The Emancipation Proclamation
After some changes, the proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862, and would become effective on January 1, 1863. The document freed the slaves in the Confederate states, but the slaves in the Border States were not freed. People in the North liked it and also some did not. Nevertheless, Lincoln said,"I never, in my life, felt more certain that i was doing right, than i do in singing this paper."
The Gettysburg Address
It is an example of Lincoln's finest words about the meaning and purpose of the Civil War. Lincoln delivered the belief address at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19,1863.
Second Inaugural Address
Was delivered on March 4, 1865, a few weeks before the war ended. Lincoln's speech is known for its humility and vision for peace and harmony between the North and South.