Lincoln’s first inaugural address had its shortcomings, too

Columnist Bret Stephens calls Abraham Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address

“an olive branch” to the South (“Bret Stephens: Biden’s speech delivered with malice toward quite a few,” Sept. 12). But just to set the record straight, Lincoln’s proffered “olive branch” was seriously thorny.

In it, President Lincoln made clear he had no plans to end slavery stating, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so and I have no inclination to do so.”

Tariffs, however, were another matter. Back then, there was no federal income tax: 95% of the federal government’s income came from tariffs on imported goods. These high tariffs, which were collected at Fort Sumter and other federal forts, helped protect Northern manufacturers and fell mostly on the agricultural Southern states.

Lincoln could not allow the South to take over these forts. If he did, he declared, “What then would become of my tariff?” The “Great Emancipator” did not start the Civil War, which cost the lives of 650,000 Northern and Southern soldiers, to end slavery, but to protect the federal government’s “cash cow.”