"I am loth (sic) to close. 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 battle-field, 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." (Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861)
So sad that he was so wrong, and the war was inevitable, but he made the attempt to keep the Union together by easing up on his opposition to some demands of the South over slavery, while steadfastly refusing to give up federal property to the 7 states that had already seceded from the Union. Then, just over one month later on April 12, 1861, the first shot of the Civil War rang out as the South attacked Fort Sumter, SC.
He was right though, in the end, the better angels of our nature saw the Union come together again, and it still stands strong today because of, and in some instances despite, the resonance of those mystic chords of memory.
All the best,
Glenn B
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