Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address

Target: I can determine Lincoln’s primary goal at the start of the Civil War by analyzing the text of his First Inaugural Address.

Key Vocabulary

• Inaugural Address: The speech a President gives on the first day they take office.

• Union: The United States as one country, united under a single government.

• Insurrection: A violent uprising against an authority or government.

• Interference: The act of getting involved in the business of others without invitation.

• Dissatisfied: Not happy or pleased; frustrated.

Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.

Prompt: Imagine you are the captain of a sports team. Half of your starting players are so angry about a new rule that they have packed their bags and are walking out of the stadium to start their own team. You have one chance to grab the microphone and convince them to stay. In a detailed paragraph, answer: What do you say to them? Do you apologize and promise to change the rules? Do you threaten them? Do you remind them of how many games you won together? Explain your strategy.

Sentence Starter: If my teammates were walking out, I would say... My strategy would be to (apologize/threaten/compromise) because... I think this would work because...

Part 2: Analyzing the Sources

Directions: Analyze the three documents below and then answer the questions that follow.

Source 1: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (Excerpt on Slavery, 1861)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"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 doing so, and I have no inclination to do so."	"I have no plan to stop slavery in the states where it already exists. I do not believe the law gives me the right to stop it, and I do not want to stop it there."

Source 2: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (Excerpt on Geography, 1861)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this..."	"Geographically, the North and South cannot separate. We cannot move our land away from each other or build a giant wall. A married couple can divorce and move to different houses, but our sections of the country are stuck together."

Source 3: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (Excerpt on War, 1861)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors... We must not be enemies."	"The choice to have a civil war is in your hands (the South), not mine. The government will not attack you. There will only be a war if you attack us first. We must not be enemies."

Analysis Questions

Directions: Answer questions 1-2 on your own. Work with a partner to answer question 3.

1. Based on Source 1 and Source 2, what are Lincoln's two main arguments for why the South should not leave? (Hint: Look at what he says about his legal power and the physical land).

   
   

   Sentence Starter: Lincoln argues that the South should not leave because, legally, he has "no purpose" to... Furthermore, physically, the country cannot...

   
   

2. Look at Source 3. Who does Lincoln say will be responsible if a war starts? Why does he say "The Government will not assail [attack] you"?

   
   

   Sentence Starter: Lincoln puts the responsibility for war in the hands of... He promises not to attack first because he wants to show that...

   
   

3. (Work with your partner) Lincoln explicitly promised not to touch slavery in the South (Source 1). Why wasn't this enough to stop the Civil War? Why did the South hear a threat when Lincoln said "We cannot separate"?

   Sentence Starter: Even though Lincoln promised to protect slavery, the South was still afraid because... When Lincoln said "We cannot separate," the South interpreted this as a threat because it meant...

   
   

Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).

Prompt: Historians argue that Lincoln’s primary goal in 1861 was to Save the Union, not to End Slavery. In a detailed paragraph, assess this claim using today's documents. Did Lincoln sound like an abolitionist in this speech, or did he sound like a lawyer trying to keep a country together? Use evidence from Source 1 to support your answer.

Sentence Starter: Based on the First Inaugural Address, Lincoln's primary goal was to... I know this because in Source 1, he explicitly states... This proves he was not an abolitionist in 1861 because... Instead, he was trying to…