In his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln was trying to keep the United States together. It was an unsuccessful plea; less than one month after his inaugural speech, the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter started the Civil War.
Lincoln did not believe in the expansion of slavery, and had already won the election of 1860, which was the final event in a series of occurrences that deepened the growing conflict between northern and southern states. Lincoln's name did not even appear on the ballot in a single Southern state, yet he won the election. The more populated North had outvoted the South. Southerners were now convinced that their voices were not being heard. Led by South Carolina, nine southern states had already seceded from the Union at the time of Lincoln's speech.
