Here are excerpts from 27 Southern and 12 Northern and Border state newspaper editorials published in the first few days after Lincoln’s first inaugural speech. They give some flavor of how sharply divided people were at that time. Many of the Southern newspapers called the inaugural speech a declaration of war against the South, while Northern newspapers were split largely along Democrat/Republican lines. Southern newspapers The Alexandria (VA) Gazette (Union): The inaugural will not satisfy disaffected persons in the South. The Alexandria (VA) Sentinel (secession): The inaugural address is a declaration of war. The Athens (AL) Herald: Mr. Lincoln’s inaugural,...
