Alexander Stephens & Abraham Lincoln

Alexander H. Stephens, Confederate VP

As I read this week's selections, I really became excited. The reason for that is, I think, that both selections put me in that historical moment, as though I was a spectator because they were so powerful. As such, these men realized the gravity of the situation. For example, Stephens calls it being "in the midst of one of the greatest epochs" and one of the "greatest revolutions in the annals of the world" (M&H, A13).

However, where some speeches by other Southerners held out hope or weren't as direct, Stephens drew the line clearly and his point was direct. That is, the South was seceding (as Dew asserts) because of slavery. Here, he insists that our forefathers (Jefferson et al) were "fundamentally wrong," in their principles of equality and that slavery is correct. In other words, he felt African Americans were unequal to whites. He received applause for this, but I noted something else - his speech seemed desperate to me. When he says that our forefathers erroneously felt the institution was "evanescent" and that "Providence" would rid us of this blight called slavery (my words), he and others were worried so much that it was so, that secession was the inevitable slippery slope.

He went on to use science, fanaticism and racial premises to convince drive his point home, even calling it a "species of insanity" to be anti-slavery. He really thought "The Creator" had made the races unequal. Stephens unknowingly predicted the South's fate with an anecdote from the opposition but in the end, stated that it was the North, not the South, who were "warring against a principle." Sad for humanity, for the slaves, for the U.S., and for all those who died in the cause on both sides.

Abraham Lincoln's "Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress"

In this Proclamation, I found the President had no choice but to be determined and politically forceful at this point. It was a month after Lincoln was elected and less than three weeks after Stephens' speech; physical presence of the military was needed to the tune of 75,000 (according to his speech). This was basically an order to protect and uphold the law via the militia, with Congress convening until the fourth of July.

Here, he powerfully appeals to/threatens both seceded states and citizens to be peaceable and gives them twenty days from that date to do as ordered. He asks the forces too to "repossess" all property including forts, etc. but to do so without "devastation" or "destruction." For me, he turns the tide from being diplomatic at the onset to letting them know who's boss. Lincoln does not want bloodshed, but he does what a Commander-In-Chief should do (uphold the law, especially because he believes in Providence). The Proclamation is short, clear and determined. War is here. It is indeed an "extraordinary occasion" (A15).