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Tag Tag Preservation of the Union
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.
Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Address · 1861

Quotes

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Abraham Lincoln · First Inaugural Address, 1861 · Primary source

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Abraham Lincoln · 1861
First Inaugural Address

Lincoln’s argument that secession is unlawful, the Union must be preserved, and civil conflict should be avoided through restraint and reconciliation.

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Related Tags

Federal authority 1 Executive duty 1 Rule of law 3 Secession 3 National reconciliation 2 Shared memory 1 Civic friendship 1 Better angels 1 Secession crisis 2 Constitutional government 1 Slavery 7 American Civil War 7