Alexander Stephens Inaugural Address Analysis

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Both Alexander Stephens and Abraham Lincoln agreed that the United States of America was created from liberty and upon equality. Their opinions and views began to differ when the topic of slavery and the true meaning of equal rights for all came up. Alexander Stephens along with the Confederacy, believed that the white race was the superior race and other races were created to be inferior. On the other hand Abraham Lincoln, along with many in the Union, believed the United States was created on the foundational thought that all men, not just one race, was created equal and deserved the same rights. Lincoln and Stephens agreed on the foundation of the United States, but did not agree about how those things should be carried out by the future …show more content…
The Confederate states believed the black race to be lesser than the white race and that slavery was their place in society. Stephens saw the war as a chance to break away from the north and their fundamentally wrong views upon the concepts of slavery. In his Cornerstone Speech, Stephens states his view upon the United States previous government; “They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the ‘storm came and the wind blew.’” Stephens had little faith in the former government of the United States and truly believed in the ultimate success of the new Confederate government. In his Cornerstone Speech, he also states the truth on which the new government is based on; “Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race-- is his natural and normal condition.” Those of the south were utterly convinced that races were created to be unequal because that was what they had been taught by generations
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