The Coming of the Civil War: Examining the Speeches of John Smith Preston and Abraham Lincoln

The Coming of the Civil War:

Examining the Speeches of John Smith Preston and Abraham Lincoln

The North and the South had immensely opposing  opinions regarding slavery, expansion, and states rights. In short, they both had considerable grievances with each other. These grievances were revealed in their entirety in February of 1861 when John Preston, representing the south and acting as Commissioner of South Carolina, addressed the Convention of Virginia and laid out each issue one by one. President Abraham Lincoln, representing the Union, broadly responded to Preston's address in his First Inaugural Address, one month later in March of 1861. In his address he placed the possibility of a civil war squarely on the South. The differences between the two gentlemen's speeches were exceedingly apparent, but it was also evident that there was a lack of understanding the opposing points of view, as well as a failure to recognize each other's hardships. The grievances coupled with the lack of understanding, and recognition of hardship, set the stage for the Civil War. 

John Preston began his address to the Convention of Virginia by stating that his purpose was not to “make an argument before you in proof of the right of secession.” He declared the reasoning for his speech, and list of grievances had came to fruition because the American Government was forcing his hand, and left him no choice. His sentiment of being forced by circumstance to respond was strikingly similar to Lincoln’s own. Lincoln reiterated his stance on the institution of slavery, and made it clear he did not want to interfere with states where slavery was legal. Yet, he also made it clear that he would, if forced, ensure that the Constitution and laws of the Union remained intact and enforced throughout the United States. Neither man wanted to be placed in the position of being forced to take measures that would lead to civil war, and yet, each felt they had to, and were firm in their positions.

Convention of Virginia

In Preston’s address, he claimed the southern states had every right to secede from the Union, with his main claim being that the Union had not protected slaveholding states the way it had protected non-slaveholding states. Preston went so far as to claim the Federal Legislature sought to harm the southern states, which were mainly slaveholding states, by depriving them of political equality. Lincoln refuted his claims stating the apprehension from the southern states was unfounded because one, their property, peace and personal security was not in danger, nor ever was, and two, because each State had control in its domestic issues and had exclusive judgment thereof. Preston’s argument was that the slaves belonging to individuals in the southern states, were in fact their property, and by the government failing to carry out Constitutional laws that protected their slave-property, the government was doing the opposite of what it guaranteed in the Constitution, for the slaveholding southern states. Preston considered this a direct assault on the southern states way of life, and their livelihood. Through governmental actions, such as those that denied the protection of property for the southern states, whose livelihood depended on the existence of slave labor, being interpreted as an assault, Preston believed the government had chosen to attack its own people. Therefore, in Preston’s opinion, the southern states had no choice but to secede from the Union.
However, President Lincoln invalidated the southern states right to secede the Union on the basis that the “Constitution...the Union of these States is perpetual.” He further added that the Union created had no provision by which to terminate itself, and the secession of the southern states would equate to the Union destroying itself, and since no provision for termination had been made, it would be impossible to secede; the Union would endure in perpetuity. Lincoln explicated his position as President, stating he would faithfully execute the duty of his office to ensure that the Union stays in tact, and that the Union “will constitutionally defend” itself from any aggressive actions, such as attempted secession. Language such as that, from what Preston viewed as the strongest government on earth, validated his claims that the government sought to restrict and destroy the interests of the slave holding states.
Preston had also brought attention to the issue of the southern states being looked down upon by their northern counterparts, reminding the Convention in Virginia, that many states had legislated slavery to be an offense to God himself. According to Preston, because slavery in the southern states was looked at as a religious abomination, people living in the southern states were subjected to invaders, such as John Brown, who destroyed property and committed murder in the name of doing what he deemed was morally correct. To Preston, this was another reason the southern states had to secede from the Union. He viewed the attacks as tolerated, and worse informally mandated, through the inaction of government to stop such attacks. As Preston continued to address the convention, he reminded them that the southern states were not acting like bloodthirsty, fanatically shouting mobs; unlike the northern states attacking them. He painted the southerners as calm and religious people who did not “need to baptize [their truth] in pools of blood.” To Preston, the southern states were nothing but victims whose hand was being forced to defend themselves since, to them, the government saw fit to destroy the south's livelihood.
President Lincoln did not tolerate any part of such language from Preston, nor anyone in the southern states. He refuted the idea that the government was an incidental bystander regarding the attacks by John Brown on United States citizens, stating, “we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext.” He made it abundantly clear he did not seek violence or bloodshed, and there would be none unless he was forced to take such action. In his inaugural address, he rather ominously cautioned the southern states to examine their motives for secession, especially when they knew their actions of secession would inevitably lead to a civil war. He questioned the southern states, asking if they were ready to make such a grave mistake as to try and leave the union, because he viewed the idea of secession as nothing but anarchy, Lincoln also spoke using foreboding language, as if to imply he knew the southern states would not succeed. In the end Lincoln wanted to remain friends with the southern states, and he wanted to keep the Union their forefathers had fought for intact. Ultimately Lincoln left the decision of civil war up to the southern states, making sure the southern states knew the Union would not be the one to throw the first blow. 

      Each group of states were staunchly dug in to their stances, so much that neither could truly, or cared to, understand what the other side was saying. On a grand scale, it was the ultimate game of chicken, and neither group of states moved. In the end, despite Lincoln's reassurance and forewarning, and with both the northern states and the southern states believing and behaving as if they were each backed into corners they could not escape from, Civil War was inevitable. 

Bibliography

Bartleby.com. "Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address." Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural
 Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989. http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Address of John S. Preston to the Convention of 
Virginia." John S. Preston, 1809-1881. Address of Hon. John S. Preston, Commissioner from South Carolina, to the Convention of Virginia, February 19, 1861. http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/prestonj/prestonj.html.