CHAPTER 3
“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.”
One month before Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office, the Texas State Legislature issued the Joint Resolution Relative to Coercion. This short and bold document captured the unapologetic pride that ran rampant among many Southern politicians just before the start of the Civil War. More importantly, it identified one of the most potent fears among white Southerners—a fear so strong that it helped fill the ranks of the Confederate Army for almost four years, “we shall make common cause … in resisting by all means and to the last extremity such unconstitutional violence and tyrannical usurpation of power.”
Historians will debate the causes and triggers of the Civil War for generations to come, but undeniably, at the root of at least some of the bloodshed lies the question of power. Which body is legally supreme, the Federal or State government? Who has the stronger army and navy? Does one man have the right to own another? Does one region have the right to impose its values over another?
Perhaps the bloodiest laboratory in American history, the Civil War was essentially an experimentation in power. The questions left unanswered by the Founding Fathers were explored on gore-filled battlefields and examined under the bloody lens of trial and error.
Yet despite the chaos and rending of the governmental fabric, the purpose of power could not have been demonstrated more profoundly than by Abraham Lincoln. At a time when all the precedents that had come before were washed away, President Lincoln forged a unique balance between unyielding determination and flexibility. He admitted when he was wrong, found new ways to adapt to challenges, and most importantly, he never stopped questioning the source of his own power.
Perhaps the greatest testament to Lincoln's leadership skills is the fact that he defined his role in the conflict to be that of public servant. His actions, positive and negative, could all be traced back his oath of office. Lincoln swore to uphold the Constitution and was willing to do everything necessary—even if it disagreed with his own personal philosophy—to fulfill the vow he took on the day he became president.
There is a tragic irony in reading passionate words of freedom when they were proclaimed by Southern men who sought to own others. But when read in contrast to Lincoln's own words, they offer a profound lesson: power is merely a tool of man. What is tyranny to one person is the means to achieve freedom to another. True leaders are not those who simply wield power, they are the ones willing to question their own, and determine the purpose behind such might.
The Power to Serve
Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed.
—Open letter to the People of Sangamo County;
March 19, 1832
I freely acknowledge myself the servant of the people, according to the bond of service—the United States Constitution; and that, as such, I am responsible to them.
—Letter to James C. Conkling; August 26, 1863
I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here, in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted condition of the country. I can say in return, Sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated and were given to the world from this hall. I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
—Speech at Independence Hall;
February 22, 1861
I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of responsibility on me.
—Letter to Alexander Stephens;
December 22, 1860
If there is anything wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it.
—Letter to Gen. Grant;
April 30, 1864
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it.
—Letter to Horace Greeley; August 22, 1862
Most governments have been based, practically, on the denial of equal rights of men, as I have, in part, stated them; ours began, by affirming those rights. They said, some men are too ignorant, and vicious to share in government. Possibly so, said we; and, by your system, you would always keep them ignorant, and vicious. We proposed to give all a chance; and we expected the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant, wiser; and all the better, and happier together. We made the experiment; and the fruit is before us. Look at it—think of it.
—Fragment; written circa July 1854
I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that these men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing, that something even more than national independence; that something that held out a great promise to all the people of the world for all time to come, I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which the struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, His most chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle.
—Speech at Trenton, New Jersey;
February 21, 1861
I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend, and maintain itself.
—Lincoln's first Inaugural Address;
March 4, 1861
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significances, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it.
—Message to Congress; December 1, 1862
The Purpose of Power
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
—Speech to the Young Men's Lyceum;
January 27, 1838
We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free, honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, best hope of earth.
—Message to Congress; December 1, 1862
When the white man governs himself that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government—that is despotism.
—Reply to Stephen Douglas; October 16, 1854
I do not mean to say that this general government is charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs in the world; but I do think that it is charged with the duty of preventing and redressing all wrongs which are wrongs to itself.
—Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio;
September 17, 1859
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.
—Fragment; written circa August 1858
What I do say is, that no man is good enough to govern another man, without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle—the sheet anchor of American republicanism.
—Reply to Stephen Douglas; October 16, 1854
Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.
—Letter to Henry L. Pierce, & Others;
April 6, 1859
Negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do anything for us, if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. And the promise being made, must be kept.
—Letter to James C. Conkling; August 26, 1863
Yet notwithstanding all this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and property, are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come. Here then, is one point at which danger may be expected. The question recurs “how shall we fortify against it?” The answer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of Seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor; let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.
—Speech to the Young Men's Lyceum;
January 27, 1838
We have, as all will agree, a free Government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed.
—Address to the 164th Ohio Regiment;
August 18, 1864
The people … have thus allowed this giant insurrec-tion to make its nest within her borders,—and this government has no choice left but to deal with it where it finds it. And it has the less regret, as the loyal citizens have in due form claimed its protection.
—Message to Congress; July 4, 1861
It is not merely for today, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children's children this great and free government, which we have enjoyed all our lives.
—Address to the 166th Regiment;
August 22, 1864
Justified Power
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves—in their separate, and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere.
—Fragment; written circa July 1854
If we shall constitutionally elect a President, it will be our duty to see that you submit. Old John Brown has been executed for treason against a State. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed and treason. It could avail him nothing that he might think himself right. So, if we constitutionally elect a President, and therefore you undertake to destroy the Union, it will be our duty to deal with you as old John Brown has been dealt with. We shall try to do our duty. We hope and believe that in no section will a majority so act as to render such extreme measures necessary.
—Speech given at Levenworth, Kansas;
December 1859
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.
—Address at Cooper Institute; February 27, 1860
It is true, as has been said by the president of the Senate, that a very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to which the votes of the American people have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but know, what you all know, that without a name, perhaps without a reason why I should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his Country; and so feeling, I cannot but turn and look for that support without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn then, and look to the great American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them.
—Speech to the State Legislature at
Columbus, Ohio; February 13, 1861
We cannot have free government without elections; and if the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.
—Reply to a spontaneous serenade;
November 10, 1864
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath that I took, that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power.
—Letter to A. G. Hodges; April 4, 1984
When I came, on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitutional election to fireside in the Government of the United States, the country was found at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have been the cause, or whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount to all others, was before me, namely, to maintain and preserve at once the Constitution and the integrity of the Federal Republic. A conscientious purpose to perform this duty is the key to all the measures of administration which have been and to all which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of government and my official oath, I could not depart from this purpose if I would.
—Reply to the Working Men of
Manchester, England; January 1863
But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is valid, it cannot be retracted any more than the dead can be brought to life.
—Letter to James C. Conkling; August 26, 1863
Leadership vs. Tyranny
If a state, in one instance, and a county in another, should be equal in extent of territory, and equal in the number of people, wherein is that state any better than the county? Can a change of name change the right?
—Speech at Indianapolis, Illinois;
February 11, 1861
If the minority will not acquiesce, that majority must, or the government must cease. There is no other alternative; for continuing the government, is acquiescence on one side or the other.
—Lincoln's first Inaugural Address;
March 4, 1861
What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a district of country, with its people, by merely calling it a State?
—Speech at Indianapolis, Illinois;
February 12, 1861
Under these circumstances I have been urgently solicited to establish, by military power, courts to administer summary justice in such cases. I have thus far declined to do it, not because I had any doubt that the end proposed—the collection of the debts—was just and right in itself, but because I have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity in the unusual exercise of power.
—Message to Congress; December 3, 1861
The assertion that “all men are created equal” was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration, not for that, but for future use. Its authors meant it to be as, thank God, it is now proving itself, a stumbling block to those who in after times might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful paths of despotism.
—Speech given in reaction to the
Dred Scott decision; June 26, 1857
Boldly Pursue your Goals
You desire peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it?
—Letter to James C. Conkling; August 26, 1863
As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing,” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union.
—Letter to Horace Greeley; August 22, 1862
In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the government, whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it.
—Message to Congress; December 6, 1864
I am a patient man—always willing to forgive on the Christian terms of repentance; and also to give ample time for repentance. Still I must save this government if possible. What I cannot do, of course I will not do; but it may as well be understood, once and for all, that I shall not surrender this game leaving any available card unplayed.
—Letter to Reverdy Johnson; July 26, 1862
By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground; and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save slavery or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution, all together.
—Letter to A. G. Hodges; April 4, 1864
What would you do in my position? Would you drop the war where it is, or would you prosecute it in the future with elder–stalk squirts charged with rose-water? Would you deal lighter blows rather than heavier ones? Would you give up the contest, leaving any available means untried? I am in no boastful mood. I shall not do more than I can, and I shall do all I can to save the government, which is my sworn duty as well as my personal inclination.
—Letter to Cutherbert Bullitt; July 28, 1862
Much is being said about peace; and no man desires peace more ardently than I. Still I am yet unprepared to give up the Union for a peace which, so achieved, could not be of much duration.
—Letter to Isaac Schermerhorn;
September 12, 1864
I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors where shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views … I have here stated my views of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.
—Letter to Horace Greely; August 22, 1862
Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored—contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead man—such as a policy of “don't care” on a question about which all true men do care.
—Address at Cooper Institute; February 27, 1860
Emotional Control
Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the material for our future support and defense. Let those materials be molded into general intelligence, sound morality and, in particular, a reverence for the Constitution and laws.… Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, as the rock of its basis; and as truly as has been said of the only greater institution, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
—Speech to the Young Men's Lyceum;
January 27, 1838
I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say, that if it is probable that God would reveal His will to others, on a point [emancipation of the slaves] so connected with my duty, it might be supposed that He would reveal it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it is, I will do it. These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible and learn what appears to be wise and right.
—Reply to the Chicago Committee of United
Religious Denominations; September 13, 1862
The true role, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good. Almost everything, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded.
—Speech in the House of Representatives;
June 20, 1848
We do not today know that a colored soldier, or white officer commanding colored soldiers, has been massacred by the rebels when made a prisoner. We fear it, we believe it, I may say,—but we do not know it. To take the life of one of their prisoners on the assumption that they murder ours, when it is short of certainty that they do murder ours, might be too serious, too cruel, a mistake. We are having the Fort Pillow affair thoroughly investigated; and such investigation will probably show conclusively how the truth is.… If there has been the massacre of three hundred there, or even the tenth part of three hundred, it will be conclusively proved; and being so proved, the retribution shall as surely come. It will be matter of grave consideration in what exact course to apply the retribution; but in the supposed case it must come.
—Address to the Sanitary Fair in Baltimore;
April 18, 1864
It is my duty to hear all; but, at last, I must, within my sphere, judge what to do, and what to forbear.
—Letter to Charles D. Drake & Others;
October 5, 1863
I view this matter [emancipation of the slaves] as a practical war-measure, to be decided on according to the advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the rebellion.
—Reply to the Chicago Committee of United
Religious Denominations; September 13, 1862
Flexibility to Adapt to New Challenges
The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
—Message to Congress; December 1, 1862
The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.… All honor to Jefferson to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a mere revolutionary document an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there that to-day and in all coming days it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression.
—Letter to H. L. Pierce & Others; April 6, 1859
What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union … I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
—Letter to Horace Greeley; August 22, 1862
Accountability and Criticism
He who does something at the head of one regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred.
—Letter to Maj. Gen. Hunter;
December 31, 1861
This government cannot much longer play a game in which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing. Those enemies must understand that they cannot experiment for ten years trying to destroy the government, and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt.
—Letter to August Belmont; July 31, 1862
I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons. And yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which, I am not quite satisfied with you. Ibelieve you to be a brave and skilful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right.… But I think that during Gen. Burnside's command of the army, you have taken counsel of your ambition, and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country, and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes, can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their commander, and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can, to put it down. Neither you, nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army, while such a spirit prevails in it. And now, beware of rashness. Beware of rashness but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward, and give us victories.
—Letter to Maj. Gen. Hooker;
January 26, 1863
It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states, because, whatever might be their wishes or dispositions, the integrity of our country and the stability of our Government mainly depend not upon them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of the American people.
—Lincoln's first State of the Union Address; December 3, 1861
I regret to find you denouncing so many persons as liars, scoundrels, fools, thieves, and persecutors of yourself. Your military position looks critical, but did anybody force you into it? Have you been ordered to confront and fight ten thousand men, with three thousand men? The government cannot make men; and it is very easy, when a man has been given the highest commission, for him to turn on those who gave it and vilify them for not giving him a command according to his rank.
—Letter to Maj. Gen. Blunt;
August 18, 1863
If, then, I was guilty of such conduct, I should blame no man who should condemn me for it; but I do blame those, whoever they may be who falsely put such a charge in circulation against me.
—Open letter to the Voters of the Seventh
Congressional District; July 31, 1846
The Single as Part of the Whole
It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at variance and cross-purposes with each other.
—Message to Congress;
December 3, 1861
I go for all sharing the privileges of the government, who assist in bearing its burdens.
—Letter to the Editor of the Sangamo Journal;
June 13, 1836
Whatever I can I will do to protect you; meanwhile you must do your utmost to protect yourselves.
—Letter to Governor Murphy; April 27, 1864
The man of the highest moral cultivation, in spite of all which abstract principle can do, likes him whom he does know, much better than him whom he does not know. To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy, and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations, or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization.
—Address to the Wisconsin State Fair;
September 30, 1859
And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can have none but a common end in view and can differ only as to the choice of means. In a storm at sea no one on board can wish the ship to sink, and yet not unfrequently all go down together because too many will direct and no single mind can be allowed to control.
—Message to Congress;
December 3, 1861
Humility and Credit to Others
I must, in candor, say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency.
—Letter to T. J. Pickett;
April 16, 1859
In telling this tale, I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years’ struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man, devised or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North, as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.
—Letter to A. G. Hodges;
April 4, 1864
Do not lean a hair's breadth against your own feelings, or your judgment of the public service, on the idea of gratifying me.
—Letter to Maj. Gen. Meade;
July 27, 1863
Calling to mind that we are in Baltimore, we cannot fail to note that the world moves. Looking upon these many people, assembled here, to serve, as they best may, the soldiers of the Union, it occurs at one that three years ago, the same soldiers could not so much as pass through Baltimore. The change from then till now, is both great, and gratifying. Blessings on the brave men who have wrought the change, and the fair women who strive to reward them for it.
—Address to the Sanitary Fair in Baltimore;
April 18, 1864
Let me assure you that I decline to be a candidate for Congress, on my clear conviction, that my running would hurt, & not help the cause. I am willing to make any personal sacrifice, but I am not willing to do, what in my own judgment, is, a sacrifice of the cause itself.
—Letter to Rev. J. M. Sturtevant;
September 27, 1856