Cornerstone Speech Analysis

In “Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War,” Charles B. Dew analyzes the public letters and speeches of white, southern commissioners in order to prove that the Civil War was fought over slavery. By analyzing the public letters and speeches of the commissioners, Dew offers a compelling argument proving that slavery along with the ideology of white supremacy were primary causes of the Civil War. Dew is not only the Ephraim Williams Professor of American History at Williams College, but he is also a successful author who has received various awards including the Elloit Rudwick Prize and the Fletcher Pratt Award. In fact, two of Dew’s books, Tredegar Iron Works and Apostles of Disunion and Ironmaker to the Confederacy: Joseph R. Anderson, received the Fletcher Pratt Award for the best nonfiction book regarding the American Civil War. In his analysis, Dew argues that the fear of eliminating slavery along with the fear of racial equality were both crucial factors regarding the outbreak of the Civil War. By tracing the speeches and public letters of state-appointed commissioners, Dew effectively argues that the white, southern commissioners led the southern states into a Civil War in order to preserve the institution of slavery as well as the ideology of white supremacy.

As President of The United States, Lincoln wanted to keep these seceding Southern states to remain a part of America. He felt that the union was not just an arrangement to govern over the states, but it indeed symbolized the future of American freedom where slavery would be abolished for good and protected the rights of every human being. When the Confederates decided to attack Fort Sumter, a Union fort, in April of 1861, the peace broke. This attack was known to have started the American Civil

Alexander H. Stephens was born February 11, 1812 and passed March 4, 1883. Stephens was an American politician during the United States Civil War. He was the Vice President for the Confederate States. He well known for his speech, the Corner Stone Speech also known as the Cornerstone Address. He delivered this speech March 21, 1861. Stephens reasoning behind this speech was to declare the continuation of slavery.

Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.

Northern troops were positioned at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, when the Southern states succeed from the Union. As a result, Lincoln faced the most difficult decision of his life. The troops there needed food and supplies, or they would die. If Lincoln sent armed reinforcements to the Fort, the South would assume it was an act of aggression and fire upon the union soldiers. Lincoln’s actions would either start a war between family and friends or recognize the South’s secession as legitimate and separate America into two different countries. His decision would decide the fate of the men in the fort and the country.

On March 5, 1861 the day after President Lincoln inauguration of the United States, The president received a message (Beringer, Why the South lost the Civil War). In attempt by the confederate government to settle differences with the union were sponged by Lincoln and the confederate felt it could no longer tolerate a foreign force in its territory (Goldfield, 2002). Lincoln ingeniously devised a plan that would case the Confederates to fire the first shot and hoped to inspire the states that had not yet seceded to unite in effort to restore the union (Goldfield, 2002). Major Robert Anderson, who commanded the United States forces at Charleston, made the decision to withdraw from the land and forts surrounding Charleston to the harbor fortress of Fort Sumter because of the dangerous situations (Davis, 1958). He commanded almost 100 troops and desperately needed reinforcements with supplies of both food and ammunition (Schweikart, 2004).

The southern states wanted to secede from the union due to the fear that north would restrict and outlawed the slavery. With Lincoln presidency the south states started their separation of the union. Lincoln made it very clear to the southern states that secede from the nation was illegal during a recite of his oath in Washington D.C. It was until Lincoln became president that the south finally exploded and decided to secede. They knew Lincoln was in favor of the north and will try harder to free slaves from the south states. The south didn’t listen and stand up against the north and made their first moves and attack the Fort Sumter. Due to this event Lincoln send military forces to enter in war with South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. This event marked the start of the Civil War; Lincoln mobilized his military forces to defend the U.S from confederates that were consider enemy. Therefore, due to the fact the southern were afraid that the north

The action against Fort Sumter would be the beginning to a war that would last from 1861 to 1865. At the beginning of the war slavery was not considered the number one reason for the war. By the wars end the politics on both side needed to justify the war to their respected public. The fight against slavery would become the North’s selling point to the public. The South would remain steadfast on the position of fighting for their overall rights as citizens of the United States and that included defending the right for slavery. The face of this war was now slavery (Mauser, 2011, 11). After the war ended on 9 April 1865, both sides had lost hundreds of thousands of men to some of the bloodiest battles in

The Civil War did not end after that surrender at Appomattox as in actuality it commenced a long and complicated ordeal involving Reconstruction. Abraham Lincoln had a fair view upon Reconstruction but he was cut short when John Wilkes Booth assassinated him. Lincoln believed in non-violence for the South. Lincoln states in a speech on April 11, 1865 that “Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between these states and the Union…” (Abraham Lincoln Speech 1) Lincoln did not want to punish the South; he wanted to reunite the country. He was not able to follow through with

recognize Negro rights taught that people could bypass those rights to establish the laws and regulations they wanted. For example, if the southern states wanted to secede just because they felt like it would the best for them, they would be able to do it, because other illegal laws going against the Constitution were being upheld. Southerners such as Alexander Stephens made the argument that, “When the Founding Fathers wanted to ratify the Constitution, they went to the individual states to do so, therefore it is obvious that states’ rights precede Federal Powers.” These southern citizens made up lies that they believed could be used to bypass the Constitution and be ratified. This was the biggest cause of the Civil War and how Lincoln made

One main argument that came from Stephens ' speech was the affirmation that African American slavery, or the peculiar institution, was the direct cause of the Confederacy’s secession. He states, “The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the Negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution (Stephens)”. Slavery defined the South and it caused many problems between the slave states and the free states. Because of slavery, the new government for the South change immensely. Stephens said that the new government was based on the reality of natural inequality.

Events at Fort Sumter led to the start of the Civil War, because people became divided based on what they believed in. In January when supplies were being shipped to Fort Sumter the ship delivering the supplies was forced to turn around after being shot at by the Confederate forces. Abraham Lincoln the President at the time was faced with a tough decision. He vowed to keep government property safe and to make the people feel as if they were able to make their own decisions, but he needed a way to incorporate both of these things at the same time. Lincoln solved his problem by deciding to send food and supplies to the fort, without troops or soldiers to fight back if their was an attack. Although Lincoln figured out a way to solve his problem,

It is clear that Lincoln favored the holding and supporting of Fort Sumter much more than the general public realized. This is evident not only in Lincoln's original draft of his Inaugural Address but in his reaction to his advisors’ suggestions. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, wrote that when Lincoln learned that Secretary of State Seward believed that it would be “impossible to relieve and reinforce the garrison,” he was “much distressed with the conclusions of the military officers” (Doc. 5).

The Battle of Fort Sumter was the last straw for Lincoln. The day after taking office Lincoln got a message from the commander of Fort Sumter. The message warned that they were running out of supplies and the Confederates demanded its surrender.Lincoln informed them that he would sent unarmed troops with supplies. He promised that they wouldn't fire unless fired upon. Jefferson Davis called an attack on fort Sumter before the supplies could arrive. Confederate guns opened fire on April 12,1861. The Union surrendered the fort on

The confederate Union in the south was against the abolition of slavery. Seven states were the first to secede and join confederate union.(Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Alabama and Florida). This was immediately three months after Abraham Lincoln entered the office on the newly formed Republican Party. The war broke out when the confederate armies claimed Fort Sumter that was held by federals in Charleston in South Carolina. The fort was later surrendered to them by Major Robert Anderson, after two days, by the commander then of the Fort. Immediately after the confederate took charge of Fort Sumter four more states seceded from the union. The confederate army forced the flag of America to be lowered as a sign of surrender to them. These states are namely North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia. These states joined the confederate. Coming to the close of 1861, it was certain that this was not going to be a short-term conflict and that the war will last