PRESENT DAY

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America delivered his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861. In this address the president spoke to the South about his proposed policies. He expressed his plans to "hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government", he called the Union "indissolvable" to prove that secession was impossible, and he promised never to be the first to attack but to only defend the country against enemies.Lincoln's deepest desire was to see the Union as a whole, rather than seeing it torn apart by the people within it.

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

On April 29, 1861, Jefferson Davis called the Confederate Congress together for a meeting in which he discusses the reasons for secession and the theory of the Union. He also asks for permission to ready the defenses of the country after Abraham Lincoln had declared war. His main reasons are based on the North's attempts to abolish slavery and having power in Congress. After the war with Great Britain, he says the states made a compact that said "each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right to which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." The Articles of Confederation contained a clause that prohibited changes unless the Legislatures of every State agreed to it, but then the Constitution was ratified on the grounds that only nine states ratified it. Davis thinks the "creature has been exalted above its creators", with the national government being the creature and the States being the creators. He then goes on to defend slavery by saying that "In moral and social condition they had been elevated from brutal savages into docile, intelligent, and civilized agricultural laborers, and supplied not only with bodily comforts but with religious instruction."

When the slaves were emancipated after the civil war, Southern communities were discontent with this, so they passed "black codes" in order to maintain control of black citizens. Mississippi and South Carolina were the first states to pass these regulations. Later, other states followed.

"Section 2. Be it further ordained, That every negro who shall be found absent from the residence of his employer after 10 o'clock at night, without a written permit from his employer, shall pay a fine of five dollars, or in default thereof, shall be compelled to work five days on the public road, or suffer corporeal punishment as hereinafter provided."

The quote is important because it shows that these regulations did not allow freedmen to move around freely as they please. They were subject to as much oversight, authority, and supervision as possible.

"Section 13. Be it further ordained, That all sums collected from the aforesaid fines shall be immediately handed over to the parish treasurer."

This is an important quote because these regulations tried to limit freedmen's not only physical limitations, but economical limitations as well.

"Section 5. Be it further ordained, That no public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset;" and Section 6 prohibited "declaim to congregation fo colored people."

These are important parts of quotes because they showed that African American social and political organizations were feared. When united, they posed as a threat to White authority and order.

In the vein of a southern controlled federal government, the case of Dred Scott V. Sanford resulted in a decision against the slave Dred Scott, and set a precedent later overturned by the 14th Amendment. Dred Scott, was a slave who attempted to sue his master for his own freedom but the vote resulted in a 7 to 2 tally, against Scott. The precedent stated that Congress has no authority to prohibit slavery in Federal territories and by extension, no slaves have the right to sue due to their not being citizens of the United States. This concept of Dred Scott not being a citizen was derived from the Constitution, specifically, the 3/5th's clause or compromise. This case was one of the many events that created tension between abolitionists and slave owners, which eventually lead to the Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation was a document written by Abraham Lincoln along with the consent of his cabinet. The main point of the Emancipation Proclamation was the freedom of slaves in Confederate States. This document also allowed freed slaves to enlist in the Union's military causing up to 200,000 former slaves to enlist. Lincoln wanted to cause an uprising of slaves in Confederate States in hopes that many slaves would run away to the North and join in the Union's cause. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation put the abolition of slavery as the primary goal of the Union's objectives. One of the more important reasons why Lincoln created this document was to keep Britain from aiding the Confederate States. If the British decided to aid the Confederate States, after Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation, than Britain would be aiding slavery which they had already abolished.

The ballad speaks about a drummer boy who meets his fate with death, among hundreds of soldiers who are dead as well, at the battle of Antietam. The Battle of Antietam was a 2 day long fight that occurred between the days of September 16 and September 18, 1862, although most of the battle took place on September 17th. It is considered one of the bloodiest single-day battles of the Civil War because no matter how hard the Union attacked,the Confederates would match their attacks equally even though the ratio of the troops were about two to one; there were about 23,000 casualties. As close as the battle seemed, the Union won the battle.