Original Photographic Print of Lincoln's Inauguration, 1861

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln took the presidential oath of office. No president, before or after, entered the office with the nation in such peril. Seven Southern states rejected the results of the presidential election and formed the Confederate States of America. Four more states soon joined them.

Fear of violence hung in the air. Just two weeks earlier Jefferson Davis had taken the oath of office as president of the Confederate States of America. Soldiers blocked off the cross streets and sharpshooters manned the roofs along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The unfinished Capitol dome loomed in the background as if to symbolize the uncertain state of the nation.

Lincoln began his inaugural address by appealing to Southern secessionists. He promised to defend states rights and protect slavery where it existed. But he made it clear that he would defend the Constitution and the Union. He ended his speech with a plea to find common ground. To some Northerners, his remarks seemed to be too conciliatory, but to many people in the South, they sounded like a declaration of war.

Gift of Capt. Montgomery Meigs, 1892

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