jefferson davis second inaugural address

Virginia Capitol, Richmond, February 22, 1862. Learn more about Davis' views and how they differed from those expressed by Abraham Lincoln in his public address. But the Government at Washington, denying our right to self-government, refused even to listen to any proposals for a peaceful separation. In each of the segments illustrated above, a single long stroke appears in a high position midway along the line. This speech was intended to promote brotherhood amongst the North and South, and he claimed that most individuals on both sides would have preferred a peaceful outcome. He spoke, according to John Quincy Adams, in so low a voice that not half of it was heard by any part of the crowded auditory. Augustus Foster also noted that the speech was too low spoken to be heard well. The inflections carefully marked according to Sheridans principles came to nothing. To save ourselves from a revolution which, in its silent but rapid progress, was about to place us under the despotism of numbers, and to preserve in spirit, as well as in form, a system of government we believed to be peculiarly fitted to our condition, and full of promise for mankind, we determined to make a new association, composed of States homogeneous in interest, in policy, and in feeling. Second Inaugural Address. The tyranny of an unbridled majority, the most odious and least responsible form of despotism, has denied us both the right and the remedy. Civil war there cannot be between States held together by their volition only. Second Inaugural Address of Jefferson Davis February 22, 1862 Fellow-Citizens: On this the birthday of the man most identified with the establishment of American independence, and beneath the monument erected to commemorate his heroic virtues and those of his compatriots, we have assembled to usher into existence the Permanent Government of the Confederate States. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. They are diacritical marks to assist Jefferson in the oral delivery of the address. The address has drawn more attention from scholars of Jeffersons public presentation and expression of executive authority, but it remains secondary to his first address. Senator Jefferson Davis took to a podium for his presidential inaugural and gave an impassioned speech about the Constitution. But in the heart of a people resolved to be free these disasters tend but to stimulate to increased resistance. Yet for all the effort and thought he invested in making the copy a script for oral delivery, as an oration the address failed. Nothing could be so bad as failure, and any sacrifice would be cheap as the price of success in such a contest. Lincoln suggested that 'insurgent agents' were working to destroy the government with or without a war, and 'seeking to dissolve the Union.' Sherman's March to the Sea | History, Significance & Date, The First Battle of Bull Run | Significance, Outcome & Facts, Abraham Lincoln During the Civil War | Quotes, Facts & Timeline, Development of the U.S. Free Enterprise System, John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry | Facts, Purpose & Outcome, Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address | Themes & Purpose. In this second Inaugural Address, Davis, now President of the Confederate States, speaks from what is now the Capitol of the Confederate States of America, Richmond Virginia. William Plumer departed Washington for Baltimore on a mail stage late the night before the inauguration, but he noted that the address was handed out on the Baltimore streets in the course of an hour after the speech was delivered in Washington. Gallatin took issue with the presentation of the press in the draft he reviewed (see, When he had the address in the form he wanted, Jefferson used his polygraph to help him make multiple copies and submitted the final text to Samuel Harrison Smith for printing. The period is near at hand when our foes must sink under the immense load of debt which they have incurred, a debt which in their effort to subjugate us has already attained such fearful dimensions as will subject them to burdens which must continue to oppress them for generations to come. we have therefore liberally furnished them with the implements of husbandry & houshold use; we have placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity; and they are covered with the Aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves. mrw120203. . Also available is Lincoln's first and second inaugural. True to our traditions of peace and our love of justice, we sent commissioners to the United States to propose a fair and amicable settlement of all questions of public debt or property which might be in dispute. It is cultivating feelings of patriotism, virtue, and courage. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the Press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. It was to be expected when we entered upon this war that it would expose our people to sacrifices and cost them much, both of money and blood. Nor would the constancy of these supplies be likely to be disturbed by war. All rights reserved. But we knew the value of the object for which we struggled, and understood the nature of the war in which we were engaged. Civil war there cannot be between States held together by their volition only. Summarized in The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, p. 55. Those Who Labor for My Happiness: Slavery at Thomas Jeffersons Monticello, Jefferson, Natural Language, & the Culture of Performance, The Dublin Orator: Thomas Sheridans Influence on Eighteenth-Century Rhetoric and Belles Letters, A Course of Lectures on Elocution Together with Two Dissertations on Language and Some Other Tracts Relative to Those Subjects, Rhetorical Grammar of the English Language, A Rhetorical Grammar of the English Language, History of the Principal Events of the Reign of Frederic William II, Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side, American, and Commercial Daily Advertiser, The Inaugural Addresses of President Thomas Jefferson, 1801 and 1805, Gazette Nationale ou le Moniteur Universel, The Inaugural Addresses of President Thomas Jefferson, Philip Mazzei: Selected Writings and Correspondence, History of the United States of America during the Second Administration of Thomas Jefferson, Topics for Inaugural Address, [before 8 Feb. 1805], James Madisons Remarks on a Draft, [8 Feb. 1805], Albert Gallatins Remarks on a Draft, [12 Feb. 1805], James Madisons Remarks on a Draft, [21 Feb. 1805], Notes on the Second Inaugural Address, [February 1805? it is due to the zeal & wisdom of the characters thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in wholsome laws, the execution of which alone remains for others. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Published by Princeton University Press and copyrighted, 2021, by Princeton University Press. Davis was inaugurated and hoped that his role would only be temporary until the permanent government was established. Whatever of hope some may have entertained that a returning sense of justice would remove the danger with which our rights were threatened, and render it possible to preserve the Union of the Constitution, must have been dispelled by the malignity and barbarity of the Northern States in the prosecution of the existing war. . Members of the foreign diplomatic corps were also present. Jeffersons use of it signals that in, Jefferson also struggled and held firm to another of the topics first marked for discussion, the licentiousness of the press. Virginia Capitol, Richmond, February 22, 1862 [1]. The world at large is concerned in opening our markets to its commerce. when satisfied of these views, it is not in human nature that they should not approve & support them. In return for their kindness I can offer assurances of the gratitude with which it is received; and can but pledge a zealous devotion of every faculty to the service of those who have chosen me as their Chief Magistrate. At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. the suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expences, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes. At the Capitol, a mixed assemblage of Senators, Populace, Representatives, and ladies gathered in the Senate chamber. He apparently had a complete draft by 8 Feb., for on that day he received James Madisons response, followed on the 12th by remarks from Albert Gallatin and from Henry Dearborn the following day. He made it clear that he did not approve of its practice and denounced slavery as one of the 'offenses' of God, who 'wills to remove' it from America. When he started is not known, as he did not put dates on any of the surviving draft fragments. It is a satisfaction that we have maintained the war by our unaided exertions. Jefferson Davis stated that a "disparaging discrimination" and a fight for "liberty" against "the tyranny of an unbridled majority" gave the . now reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter-state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture & the domestic arts; to encourage them to that industry which alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence, & to prepare them in time for that state of society, which to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind & morals. Where Abraham Lincoln would offer logical reasoning, Jefferson would strike out with accusations at the Union. For proof of the sincerity of our purpose to maintain our ancient institutions, we may point to the Constitution of the Confederacy and the laws enacted under it, as well as to the fact that through all the necessities of an unequal struggle there has been no act on our part to impair personal liberty or the freedom of speech, of thought, or of the press. But now he shifted his focus from preserving the union to restoring it. The rule of voluntary association, which cannot fail to be conservative, by securing just and impartial government at home, does not diminish the security of the obligations by which the Confederate States may be bound to foreign nations. (See Documents, Neither of Jeffersons predecessors as president had given a second inaugural address. Phone: (713) 348-2586 I shall need therefore all the indulgence which I have heretofore experienced from my constituents. Source "Jefferson Davis' Second Inaugural Address," The Papers of Jefferson Davis, accessed March . Get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons. it is due to the sound discretion with which they select from among themselves those to whom they confide the legislative duties. 1805], Reading Copy of Second Inaugural Address, [before 4 Mch. At the end of a line, as seen in the first two details shown above, he put a double stroke or a third mark in the form of a long cross or dagger. His purpose in writing the Notes on a Draught was to explain his handling of this topic. Almost all Americans have heard these opening words spoken by President Abraham Lincoln in his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863. He even compared the Confederacy's fight to defend its way of life as a revolutionary act, similar to how the colonies rebelled against the control of Great Britain back in the Revolutionary War. The tyranny of an unbridled majority, the most odious and least responsible form of despotism, has denied us both the right and the remedy. Lincoln viewed the United States as a collection of states held together by an unbreakable bond. After a series of successes and victories, which covered our arms with glory, we have recently met with serious disasters. Jefferson asked for comments from Robert Smith on 14 Feb., and received a second set of notes from Madison on the 21st. Seven Southern states had already seceded, or broken away, from the United States and formed the Confederacy. We have neither asked nor received assistance from any quarter. The optimism which some had had at the beginning of the war had faded away. He directed his words at convincing them that he was not their enemy, but a friend. 1805]. Even with the corrections, Jefferson continued adjusting the address until the eleventh hour, submitting a few changes to Smith after he sent along the full draft (see, The address rapidly circulated through the states after Smiths printing, with many newspapers publishing the speech in full. 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