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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 will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. 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 on earth.
Second Annual Message to Congress, Washington, DC, December 1, 1862
In simple words and ringing phrases, President Lincoln eloquently prepared Congress, and the American people, for the long bitter struggle to come.
To Abraham Lincoln, the Union began in 1776 with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. There was never a question in his mind that the political Union of States was a legal entity. It was, therefore, illegal for any one state, or confederacy of states, to dissolve the Union Lincoln never wavered in his determination to use any and all means necessary to preserve the Union and keep the promise of liberty and freedom as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and realized through the Constitution.
States had certain powers but the Federal Government was responsible for maintaining the "inalienable rights" of all Americans. |