LINCOLN SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th President of the United States here in the Nation's Capitol.
With seven southern states having seceded following his election in November 1860, Mr. Lincoln came into office with not only threats on his life, but the threat on the life of the Union.
While the new president promised in his inaugural address that his government would not interfere with the institution of slavery where it then existed, he said that the United States would "hold, occupy & possess" its' property."
Mr. Lincoln pledged there would be no attack on the South by military forces of the United States.
The President said...
"In your hands my fellow citizens, & not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You cannot have conflict without being yourselves the aggressor."
On December 20, 1860, the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union and six days later the forces of Major Robert B. Anderson evacuated Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina to occupy Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Six weeks after Lincoln's inaugural, April 12, 1861, Confederate shore batteries opened fire on Sumter and the War Between the States began.
1st Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1861
Library of Congress Photo
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th President of the United States here in the Nation's Capitol.
With seven southern states having seceded following his election in November 1860, Mr. Lincoln came into office with not only threats on his life, but the threat on the life of the Union.
While the new president promised in his inaugural address that his government would not interfere with the institution of slavery where it then existed, he said that the United States would "hold, occupy & possess" its' property."
Mr. Lincoln pledged there would be no attack on the South by military forces of the United States.
The President said...
"In your hands my fellow citizens, & not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You cannot have conflict without being yourselves the aggressor."
On December 20, 1860, the state of South Carolina seceded from the Union and six days later the forces of Major Robert B. Anderson evacuated Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina to occupy Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Six weeks after Lincoln's inaugural, April 12, 1861, Confederate shore batteries opened fire on Sumter and the War Between the States began.
1st Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1861
Library of Congress Photo
