We are not enemies, but friends.

Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection." While the effect produced by the Inaugural in the North was so auspicious, no corresponding impression was made in the South.
Mr.Lincoln's concise and candid statement of his opinions and purposes in regard to Slavery, his majestic and unanswerable argument against Secession, and his pathetic appeal to the people and States of the South, all alike failed to win back the disaffected communities.
The leaders of the Secession movement were only the more enraged by witnessing the favor with which Mr.Lincoln's position was received in the North.

The declaration of the President that he should execute the laws in all parts of the country, as required by his oath, and that the jurisdiction of the nation under the Constitution would be asserted everywhere and constantly, inspired the doubting with confidence, and gave to the people of the North a common hope and a common purpose in the approaching struggle.
The address left to the seceding States only the choice of retiring from the position they had taken, or of assuming the responsibilities of war.

It was clear that the assertion of jurisdiction by two separate governments over the same territory and people must end in bloodshed.

In this dilemma was the South placed by the Inaugural address of President Lincoln.