When Lincoln gave an address at his first Inauguration in 1861, he mainly talked about the issue of slavery. He began by saying that he had no purpose in interfering in whether slavery should be abolished or legalized and that he did not want to. Then he stated that the power of the states to decide whether they personally would allow slavery helped to keep the balance between the federal government and the state government. He used a quote directly from the Constitution to state where he stood on the fugitive slave problem. He continues to say how the United States is divided because of this whole slavery issue and that is dangerous. As he often states, his main priority is to preserve the Union and as long as that is held true, it does not matter whether slavery is legal or not, but only that the country is united. Secession because of this difference in ideology would be very bad for the country. In the end, Lincoln assures the people of the United States of America that they are all friends and are not enemies, as it seemed at the time.
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