How did Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis each use the ideals of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence to support their side’s cause?

Answer 1

Abraham Lincoln used the ideals of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence to support the Union cause by emphasizing the principles of freedom, equality, and democracy. He argued that the Union was founded on these principles, and that preserving the Union was necessary to ensure the continued existence of a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Lincoln also invoked the Declaration of Independence’s assertion that all men are created equal to argue against the institution of slavery, which he viewed as a violation of this fundamental principle.

Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, used the ideals of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence to support the Confederacy’s cause by emphasizing states’ rights and the right of self-determination. He argued that the Southern states had the right to secede from the Union based on the same principle of no taxation without representation that led to the American Revolution. Davis also framed the Confederate cause as a fight for freedom and independence, similar to the colonists’ struggle against British rule, and portrayed the Confederacy as the true inheritor of the revolutionary ideals of the founding fathers.