Abraham Lincoln 's Second Inaugural Address

In November of 1860, the presidential election was one of the most momentous in the history of the United States. The land was split between North and the South and was smoldering for almost a decade. The candidates for the presidential election of 1860 were Abraham Lincoln, Republican, John Breckinridge, Southern Democrat, John Bell, Constitutional Union, and Stephen Douglas, Northern Democratic. Abraham Lincoln was against the increase of slavery into the new territories. Lincoln did not receive one vote from the south, but he did win over 50% of the Electoral College votes so Lincoln won the presidency to become the 16th President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was known as one of America’s greatest heroes because of his inconceivable impact on our nation and his unique appeal. Lincoln was a captain in the military and a lawyer all before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln was one of two U.S. presidents who was assassinated while in office. Lincoln was also the president during the roughest part of American history, the Civil War. Lincoln was heavily in favor of abolishing slavery and so most of the citizens in the northern states of the U.S... On the other hand, the south had large plantations and favored slavery because the slaves worked for free and made plantation owners and other farmers a staggering amount of profit. The slaves were not treated as human beings; therefore, the slaves were mistreated. Slave owners often beat their slaves

The political turmoils of nineteenth century America gave way to a massive Civil War which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The United States were divided geographically and ideologically. The North was an industrial powerhouse based on (relatively) free labor that focused on factories and manufactures. In its economy it had no need for slaves and was dead set against the very institution of slavery. On the other hand, the south was the agricultural center of the U.S.A. and relied heavily on a large slave population to do most of the manual labor. The election of 1860 pitted these two different world views against each other. The pro slavery Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge and the abolitionist Republican Abraham Lincoln were

Weeks of wet weather had occurred before Saturday March 4th, 1865, making Pennsylvania Avenue a thick, muddy place; however, the pounding rain did not stop the spectators from listening to Lincoln give his Second Inaugural Address, given one month before the end of the Civil War. The Civil War was the result of a long standing controversy over slavery. The North and the South did not agree with each other. Slavery in the North had died out to the point where almost all blacks were free. The South on the other hand very few blacks were free. Causing a long lastly disagreement between both sides. When Lincoln gave his speech spectators were expecting a speech on slavery when Lincoln gave a dark gloomy speech that no one saw coming. The Civil War had lasted through his passed presidency and ended five days before his death. United States President Abraham Lincoln surprised his massive audience with a very short speech in which he talked about the effects of the Civil War, and expressed his feelings toward the future of the United States. Lincoln wanted to restore faith in the nation, talking about how the war would end soon, and that the nation was going to reunite. In this short speech Lincoln asserts that the audience knows and is knowledgeable about the war, which shows that the Americans know the war was just by using juxtaposition. Lincoln addresses his opinion towards the war, and makes it clear by utilizing biblical allusion, creating a basis of mutual agreement between the North and the South.

“The pattern of the prodigal is: rebellion, ruin, repentance, reconciliation, restoration” (Edwin Louis Cole). Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” is a speech that highlights every point in Cole’s quote. He, Lincoln, talks about how the south manages to rebel, how their economy will be left in ruin, how they will repent and be forgiven by both God and the North, how the North and the South will reconcile, and finally he talks of how the nation will move on to restoration. Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” emphasizes the reconciliation of a torn apart nation by appealing to pathos, logos, and ethos and by using diction to appeal to the listener’s emotion.

There is not enough evidence to believe that President Lincoln offered to evacuate Union troops from Fort Sumter, instead he tried to protect them. In his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, it showed that he planned for peace instead of war, and he declared that he “looked forward to a peace with malice toward none; with charity for all” (McPherson 59). He refused to take any action against the South unless the Unionists themselves were attacked first. Lincoln had three choices. The two extremes were either surrender Fort Sumter or start shooting and force an entry to the fort. He chose a third way as he did not want to start war against the Confederates but to keep Fort Sumter, navigating a middle course between the two. It is clear

All of the candidates of the Election of 1860 saw slavery in different ways. Some felt that it was wrong, while others felt that it was good. Your views on slavery would affect who would support you. If you were for slavery, the South would support you. If you were against slavery, the North would support you. There was no way in between.

Another major cause of the Civil War was the Presidential Election of 1860, in which Abraham Lincoln was voted in as president. Similar to many Northerners, Abraham Lincoln was opposed to slavery and longed to see an end to it. This resulted in him receiving the majority of the votes in the North, but very few votes in the South. This would add to the political strain between the North and the South, with the South seceding soon after Lincoln’s election. He would also be offered death threats, which put what was known as the “Union” in the North, and the “Confederate States of America” in the South, on the brink of war.

Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama, born one hundred fifty two years apart, are two of the most significant individuals of their time. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His father, Tom, worked as a carpenter while his mother, Nancy, stayed home with Abraham and their two other children, Sarah and Thomas. The family later moved to Indiana where the land was fertile and there were people who encouraged the antislavery movement. Lincoln’s father was against slavery and this value would continue with Lincoln throughout his presidency. Before entering into politics, he attempted various career choices in New Salem. One of these actually stuck with him and in 1832, he ran for Illinois Legislature but was defeated. This did not stop him, though, and two years later he ran again. This time he was elected into the Whig party and it acted as the beginning of Lincoln’s political career but it was not until 1860 when he decided to run for presidency. In 1861 he became the sixteenth president of the United States.

In arguably one of the most powerful of American political addresses ever given, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt argues that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’, and that in order to restore America to its pre-depression state, the American people must believe that he can lead them through the Great Depression, so long as they appoint him the wartime executive powers required to handle the situation effectively. Roosevelt emphasizes the need for action through the use of biblical allusions and referring to himself as the prophet is this time of need, taking the role of Jesus, declaring, “The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths.” ; he plays upon the social needs as well as builds up his credibility with the audience by stating his plan to combat the depression, “broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” ; and cements his argument with his claims of value and policy, exposing the flaws of pre-depression American society, and eventually calling for the change he believes necessary to force America out of the depression, “we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”. Franklin Delano Roosevelt goes to such lengths to earn the support of his fellow Americans in order to unite the entire country in

The impending destruction of the Union was a grim reality President Abraham Lincoln had to face when he was elected in November of 1860. During the four months between President Lincoln’s election and Inauguration in March of 1861, seven southern states had already declared their secession, and elected Jefferson Davis as their confederate president. Tensions were high, and it was time for Lincoln to “end his silence.” The first inaugural address was to calm leaders of the southern slave states, and end the secession crisis by keeping them from dichotomizing the Union. Lincoln begins by addressing the southern slave states “I have no purpose, directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists.

In Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, he begins voicing that there is no need for him to have such an extended address just as he did the first time. Before his four years in office, there was that necessary detail of what he felt must be pursued, but now he feels as though there is still yet to be pursued as he had wished before. The public knows as much as himself when it comes to the progression of the military, and he believes is satisfactory with entailing of high hopes for the future.

Since its founding, America’s ever-changing nationalism has existed under the guise of liberty and justice for all. Analyzing a president’s inaugural address can give a snapshot of his nationalist sentiment through examination of recurring themes and symbols. By comparing inaugural addresses from across history, these themes become patterns that suggest constancy in American nationalism over time. Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George W. Bush’s inaugural addresses exemplified this constancy. Each man imagined the nation as a group unified by long-standing roots in religious faith, despite the presence of people from diverse backgrounds. In addition, Lincoln prompted the nation to establish peace within and outside of the country,

The two artifacts, Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address" and Emily Dickinson's "Success is Counted Sweetest" were both written around the time of the Civil War and have been categorized as rhetoric and poetry respectively. A poem is defined according to The American Heritage, Dictionary of English Language as "A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme", while rhetoric cannot be as clearly defined. There has always been an ongoing historical debate as how to define rhetoric, but we can identify its characteristics and functions.

Lastly, the impact of these speeches from the establishment of war which differs to the support of Germany’s leader. While in Abraham's oratory it led to each side of the nation thinking he was to one sided in belief and helped pushed on the idea of the civil war even thought that was the opposite of Lincoln's intentions. Peterson exclaims how the audience remained silent through speech with apprehension and that the speech made Northern radicals see him as too conciliatory and the southern sympathizers see him as too firm ( Lincoln, Lincoln Delivers His First Inaugural Address, 512). Varhola explained that even after the election and speech given, the “seceding states remained recalcitrant, seizing Federal forts and arsenals in the South,

On the date of March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural speech at the National Capital of the US. The speech had been given within less than 700 words making it one of the shortest addresses in history. This speech is also the most famous address in history.