...let’s take a closer look at the First
Inaugural Address of President Jefferson Davis, given February 18th, 1861 in Montgomery,
Alabama.
"Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate States of America,
Friends, and Fellow-citizens: Called to the difficult and responsible station of Chief
Magistrate of the Provisional Government which you have instituted, I approach the
discharge of the duties assigned to me with humble distrust of my abilities, but with a
sustaining confidence in the wisdom of those who are to guide and aid me in the
administration of public affairs and an abiding faith in the virtue and patriotism of the
people. Looking forward to the speedy establishment of a permanent government to take the
place of this, which by its greater moral and physical power will be better able to combat
with many difficulties that arise from the conflicting interests of separate nations, I
enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the
beginning of our career, as a Confederacy, may not be obstructed by hostile opposition to
our enjoyment of the separate existence and independence we have asserted, and which, with
the blessing of Providence, we intend to maintain.
Our present political position has been achieved in a manner unprecedented
in the history of nations. It illustrates the American idea that governments rest on the
consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them
at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established. The
declared purpose of the compact of the Union from which we have withdrawn was to
"establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity": and when, in the judgement of the sovereign States composing this
confederacy, it has been perverted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and ceased
to answer the ends for which it was established, a peaceful appeal to the ballot box
declared that, so far as they are concerned, the government created by that compact should
cease to exist.
In this they merely asserted the right which the Declaration of
Independence of July 4, 1776, defined to be "inalienable." Of the time and
occasion of tis exercise they as sovereigns were the final judges, each for itself. The
impartial and enlightened verdict of mankind will vindicate the rectitude of our conduct;
and He who knows the hearts of men will judge of the sincerity with which we have labored
to preserve the Government of our fathers in its spirit.
The right solemnly proclaimed at the birth of the United States, and which
has been solemnly affirmed and reaffirmed in the Bills of Rights of the States
subsequently admitted into the Union of 1789, undeniably recognizes in the people the
power to resume the authority delegated for the purposes of government. Thus the sovereign
States her represented have proceeded to form this Confederacy; and it is by abuse of
language that their act has been denominated a revolution. They formed a new alliance, but
within each State its government has remained; so that the rights of person and property
have not been disturbed. The agent through which they communicated with foreign nations is
changed, but this does not necessarily interrupt their international relations. Sustained
by the consciousness that the transition from the former Union to the present Confederacy
has not proceeded from a disregard on our part of just obligations, or any failure to
perform every constitutional duty, moved by no interest of passion to invade the rights of
others, anxious to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations, if we may not hope to
avoid war, we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly
engaged in it. Doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our part, and by wanton
aggression of the part of others, there can be no cause to doubt that the courage and
patriotism of the people of the Confederate States will be found equal to any measure of
defense which their honor and security may require.
An agricultural people, whose chief interest is the export of commodities
required in every manufacturing country, our true policy is peace, and the freest trade
which our necessities will permit. It is alike our interest and that of all those to whom
we would sell, and from whom we would buy, that there should be the fewest practicable
restrictions upon the interchange of these commodities. There can, however, be but little
rivalry between ours and any manufacturing or navigating community, such as the
Northeastern States of the American Union. It must follow, therefore, that mutual interest
will invite to good will and kind offices on both parts. If, however, passion of lust of
dominion should cloud the judgement or inflame the ambition of those States, we must
prepare to meet the emergency and maintain, by the final arbitrament of the sword, the
position which we have assumed among the nations of the earth.
We have entered upon the career of independence, and it must be inflexibly
pursued. Through many years of controversy with our late associates of the Northern
States, we have vainly endeavored to secure tranquillity and obtain respect for the rights
to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the remedy of
separation, and henceforth our energies must be directed to the conduct of our own
affairs, and the perpetuity of the Confederacy which we have formed. If a just perception
of mutual interest shall permit us peaceably to pursue our separate political career, my
most earnest desire will have been fulfilled. But if this be denied to us, and the
integrity of our territory and jurisdiction be assailed, it will but remain for us with
firm resolve to appeal to arms and invoke the blessing of Providence on a just cause.
As a consequence of our new condition and relations, and with a view to
meet anticipated wants, it will be necessary to provide for the speedy and efficient
organization of branches of the Executive department having special charge of foreign
intercourse, finance, military affairs, and the postal service. For purposes of defense,
the Confederate States may, under ordinary circumstances, rely mainly upon the militia;
but it is deemed advisable, in the present condition of affairs, that there should be a
well-instructed and disciplined army, more numerous than would usually be required on a
peace establishment. I also suggest that, for the protection of our harbors and commerce
on the high seas, a navy adapted to those objects will be required. But this, as well as
other subjects appropriate to our necessities, have doubtless engaged the attention of
Congress.
With a Constitution differing only from that of our fathers in so far as
it is explanatory of their well-known intent, freed from sectional conflicts, which have
interfered with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not unreasonable to expect that
States from which we have recently parted may seek to unite their fortunes to ours under
the Government which we have instituted. For this our Constitution makes adequate
provision; but beyond this, if I mistake not the judgment and will of the people, a
reunion with the States from which we have separated is neither practicable nor desirable.
To increase the power, develop the resources, and promote the happiness of the
Confederacy, it is requisite that there should be so much of homogeneity that the welfare
of every portion shall be the aim of the whole. When this does not exist, antagonisms are
engendered which must and should result in separation.
Actuated solely by the desire to preserve our own rights, and promote our
own welfare, the separation by the Confederate States has been marked by no aggression
upon others, and followed by no domestic convulsion. Our industrial pursuits have received
no check, the cultivation of our fields has progressed as heretofore, and, even should we
be involved in war, there would be no considerable diminution in the production of the
staples which have constituted our exports, and in which the commercial world has an
interest scarcely less than our own. This common interest of the producer and consumer can
only be interrupted by exterior force which would obstruct the transmission of our staples
to foreign markets - a course of conduct which would be as unjust, as it would be
detrimental, to manufacturing and commercial interest abroad.
Should reason guide the action of the Government from which we have
separated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world, the Northern States included,
could not be dictated by even the strongest desire to inflict injury upon us; but, if the
contrary should prove true, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the suffering
of millions will bear testimony to the folly and wickedness of our aggressors. In the
meantime there will remain to us, besides the ordinary means before suggested, the
well-known resources for retaliation upon the commerce of an enemy.
Experience in public stations, of subordinate grade to this which your
kindness has conferred, has taught me that toil and care and disappointment are the price
of official elevation. You will see many errors to forgive, many deficiencies to tolerate;
but you shall not find in me either want of zeal or fidelity to the cause that is to me
the highest in hope, and of most enduring affection. Your generosity has bestowed upon me
an undeserved distinction, one which I neither sought nor desired. Upon the continuance of
that sentiment, and upon your wisdom and patriotism, I rely to direct and support me in
the performance of the duties required at my hands.
We have changed the constituent parts, but not the system of government.
The Constitution framed by our fathers is that of these Confederate States. In their
exposition of it, and in the judicial construction it has received, we have a light which
reveals its true meaning.
Thus instructed as to the true meaning and just interpretation of that
instrument, and ever remembering that all offices are but trusts held for the people, and
that powers delegated are to be strictly construed, I will hope by due diligence in the
performance of my duties, though I may disappoint your expectations, yet to retain, when
retiring, something of the good will and confidence which welcome my entrance into office.
It is joyous in the midst of perilous times to look around upon a people
united in heart, where one purpose of high resolve animates and actuates the whole; where
the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance against honor and right and
liberty and equality. Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent, the progress of
a movement sanctified by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people. Reverently let us
invoke the God of our fathers to guide and protect us in our efforts to perpetuate the
principles which by his blessing they were able to vindicate, establish, and
transmit to their posterity. With the continuance of his favor ever gratefully
acknowledged, we may hopefully look forward to success, to peace, and to prosperity."
Go to
Abraham
Lincoln's March 4th 1861
Inaugural Address
