History Essay - Abraham Lincoln essay sample

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History Essay


On March 21st of 1861, Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederate delivered a speech in Georgia in which he outlined the cornerstone of the new arrangement. The cornerstone speech is believed to have highlighted the plight and intentions of southern states that were unhappy with the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln and his policies. Subsequently, analysts attempted to interpret the assertions of Stephens in this speech (Golden 357).

Artists such as Thomas Nast penned the different of opinion between the south and the north. In his work, Nast attempted to depict the varying attitude of the southerners and the northerners towards the Lincoln administration.

Cornerstone of Confederacy

The cornerstone of confederacy speech was delivered a few weeks before several southern states decided to secede from the union. In the speech, Stephen stressed that the call and subsequent decision to secede was buoyed by the African slavery issue. As a result, the confederate constitution that would be developed by the new union would address the issue of slavery and the position of the Negroes in the new civilization. The cornerstone of the confederacy affirmed the fact that Negroes are not equal to whites and slavery or insubordination placed them in their right category. Through the cornerstone speech, the confederate states stressed their position on the slavery issue and asserted the superiority of the white race as compared to the African Americans (Martinez 184).

Stephen’s fundamental assumption about blacks and whites

During this speech, Stephen also highlighted some of the assumptions that he and his colleagues had on African Americans. Based on the speech, Stephen stressed that blacks are inferior to whites and cannot be placed in the same position as whites in the new civilization. Based on the new constitution of the confederates, blacks were to remain slaves and live under complete insubordination (Golden 358).

Stephen’s summary of differing view on confederacy

During the speech, speech also highlighted differing views that America had towards the confederacy. For example, he noted how the introduction of the confederate would eliminate tariffs and deny central governments expenditure authority on internal improvements within the states. As a result, the new confederate constitution will provide a new delineation and separation of the roles and responsibilities of the federal and state governments. With the confederate constitution, new members would have an equal chance to join (Scott).

Nast views on Lincoln

On 23rd of March 1861, two days after the confederacy cornerstone speech, Thomas Nast penned down a caricature of Lincoln, which had contrasting messages. With these two illustrations, Nast gave conflicting views of the north and south towards the inauguration of Lincoln. While the north viewed Lincoln as a liberator who was interested in bringing peace to the country and uniting the union, the south saw a murderer. His intentions and plans according to the southerners would cause chaos and anarchy, a situation that would affect the unity of the country (Cronin 44).

Confederate states of America and hostility to …

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