President Abraham Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress
12/1/1862
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The Constitution requires that the President "...shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union." As was the custom in the 19th century, President Lincoln delivered his message in writing; the Secretary of the Senate read it aloud.
The message (select pages shown here) was delivered three months after Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and exactly one month before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.
The Union lay in shambles. Lincoln sought to re-inspire Congress after the horrifying battle at Antietam – the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He summoned the Union to the great task of abolishing slavery in order to preserve the union. Slavery had already been abolished in Washington, DC, and in the territories of the United States.
Lincoln's message became known as the "Fiery Trial" message:
The message (select pages shown here) was delivered three months after Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and exactly one month before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.
The Union lay in shambles. Lincoln sought to re-inspire Congress after the horrifying battle at Antietam – the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He summoned the Union to the great task of abolishing slavery in order to preserve the union. Slavery had already been abolished in Washington, DC, and in the territories of the United States.
Lincoln's message became known as the "Fiery Trial" message:
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.Lincoln ended the message on the subject of slavery and preserving the United States:
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.
Transcript
In the inaugural address I briefly pointed out the total inadequacy of disunion, as a remedy for thedifferences between the people of the two sections. I did so in language which I cannot improve, and
which, therefore, I beg to repeat:
"One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it
is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave clause of
the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are each as well enforced,
perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports
the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few
break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases after the
separation of the sections, than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be
ultimately revived without restriction in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially
surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
"Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor
build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence,
and beyond the reach of each other, but the different…
[pages omitted]
Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be
remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of
us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest
generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to
save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We – even we here – hold the power, and
bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free – honorable alike in
what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.
Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just – a way which, if
followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.
[signature] Abraham Lincoln
December 1, 1862
37 Cong.
2 Sess. }
Senate Ex doc
No.
Message of the President of the United States to the two Houses of Congress at the Commencement of the third Session of the thirty Seventh Congress.
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1862 December 1 Read. Resolution of Mr Anthony to print extra copies submitted
1862 Decb. 3 Resolution referred to the Comm. on Printing
[1862] [Decb.] 12 Report Committee in favor of printing extra Copies of Message and Documents agreed to.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
Full Citation: President Abraham Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress; 12/1/1862; (SEN 37A-F1); Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/lincoln-message-congress, April 20, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
