Abraham Lincoln Quote

"If by the mere force of numbers a majority
should deprive a minority of any clearly written
constitutional right, it might, in a moral point
of view, justify revolution."

by:	Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th US President
Source:	First Inaugural Address, 4 March 1861
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Categories:	Civil Rights, Constitution, Democracy, Individual Rights, Justice, President
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Yes, well, it just goes to show that unless you can win that revolution, might indeed makes right no matter what the Constitution says. If Lincoln had remained true to this statement, the Southern states could have peacefully succeeded as was the right of any State then and now.  -- E Archer, NYC      3
-- Mike, Norwalk
He remained true to the statement. The South did not succeed peacefully. They attacked first and forced a military solution. Lincoln believed right up the time bullets started to fly that the South would calm down and come to their senses.  -- Warren Giese, Olathe      1
Yes, Sir, you are correct...  -- Robert, Sarasota
Very true Warren, it is good to see there is someone else on this site who actually does know some history, and thinks with some logic.  -- helorat, Milton
-- Anonymous
To the credit of our Southern brothers, a plurality believed that they would be attacked by the North, that they would not be allowed to secede (not succeed) from the Union. Great statemen on both sides rent their garments when the gunfire started. Look at Northern California today. Would they be allowed to secede from California and join Oregon, or form their own State? I think in theory the answer is of course, but in practice it is extraordinarily unlikely, unless another State was also formed (NYC and Long Island immediately come to mind) to placate the two political parties in power.  -- Eric Richard Engstrom, Wichita, KS      1
"The South did not succeed peacefully. They attacked first and forced a military solution." This is not true. They Union, by attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter, was the initial aggressor. Every Southern seceding state seceded peacefully by due process according to their respective constitutions and laws. The war was started, as "Honest" Abe declared, to preserve the revenue. The South had been subsidizing the North, both by internal taxes and by taxes collected on imports coming into Southern ports. The North was unable (or unwilling) to stand on its own feet financially. The Confederacy fought ONLY to secede, not to invade and conquer the North. Almost all the war was conducted on the soil of seceded states. Maryland's governor and members of its assembly of the secession party (the majority) were arrested by Lincoln to prevent their voting to secede and to apply for admission to the CSA. Lincoln authorized his generals to suspend habeas corpus. They responded with enthusiasm, having thousands of suspected secessionists and personal opponents imprisoned without charges, without habeas corpus. Kentucky seceded and was promptly invaded without having fired a shot at the US. A capital was established at Bowling Green, but the conquerors established an unelected (military) pseudo-legislature and state government. Other states were on the verge of seceding but the Lincoln regime acted quickly to remove the secessionists from their constitutional, legal offices and substitute impersonators in their place. The present government of the USA (the United State) is an illegitimate occupation government of a conquering power. Goes to show what Lincoln believed (as evidenced by his conduct): Shot and bayonets trump moldy old scraps of parchment. The same regime is in effect to this day. Northern Californica is not a separate state. It is a group of counties of Californica, themselves administrative subdivisions of Californica. The Confederate States of America was composed of separate states formerly of the USA. Only "West" Virginia was separated from its state, and that in violation of the US constitution.  -- Bob, Cave City      3
Bob of Cave City, Do you really think that the United States would be better off, half slave and half free? That is what would have happened if your line of reasoning had prevailed.  -- Anonymous, Las Vegas      2
It a matter of the states and their citizens dtermining their own freedom. No state requires the consent of the federal government for its citizens to be free, the union is not the give of freedom, it is the protector. Gods gives us all freedom at birth.  -- Terry Shelton, Barbourville, Kentucky      1
Lincoln knew full well what he was doing, which was to provoke the South into war. In the process of forcing union upon those who did not desire it, he brought perpetual union upon all. If you think not...try leaving.  -- Stan, SC      2
Which means we are about 20 revolutions late! But, better late than never....  -- Robert Edwards, somewhere in the USA      1
Actually the north fired the first shots, every year Harpers Ferry? Northern forces at Fort Sumter were given a notice to vacate at that point they became illegal squatters. Still a lot of people buying the Lincoln myth protected by historical gatekeepers. The truth is Lincoln was a tyrant who started a needless war of aggression, He violated the Constitution and the principal of consent of the governed the South had every right to secede from the union and they would've done so peacefully had  the north not desired the taxes to boost the northern economy. The history was written by the winner, people need to research the  southern point of view more carefully.  -- Mick, Pleasant Hill      1
Thank you Bob. Now this is a man who knows his history not encumbered by the pro-Lincoln historical gatekeepers pushing the myth of "honest" Abe attempting to justify a war of aggression into the South. Had the states that ratified the United States Constitution ever had an inkling that they would someday be prohibited from leaving the union peacefully if their people chose to do so would have never ratified it!  -- Mick, Pleasant Hill      1
Every other country in the world that had slavery had removed it  without a war, chattel slavery would have eventually ended in the United States without the needless bloodshed of thousands. Without that issue of slavery for the North the claim moral high ground their cause would have failed. You should read some of Lincoln's writings concerning the Negro race, his comments today would be considered extremely racist. But you cannot look at history wearing the glasses of today's Politically correct cultural Marxism. You must view history in its historical context.  -- Mick, Pleasant Hill      1
The individual is the smallest minority, not to offend the tender minded, Most will sacrifice their economic liberty for security, at the cost of the individuals Independence. Most would rather be a secure slave, than Free from economic slavery. This most of all was at the heart of the battle.   -- Ronw13, OR      1
The South tried to secede but didn't succeed.  -- David, Mannington, NJ

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