Address To The Civil War Rhetorical Analysis

The first major reason of the civil war stems from Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech. Lincoln gives warning to the growing rift between the North and the South, the Anti-Slavery and the Pro-Slavery groups, as evidence in ‘I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.’ Although the antagonism and eagerness of protecting the Union is not shown as prominently as future speeches, we can find a hint of caution in his tone. He goes on to support his claims through the hodgepodge of legislation that is the ‘Nebraska Doctrine’ and the legal crisis of the Dred Scott court case. He politely refers to this as ‘squabble’ and speak of the controversy and moral implication that they have caused. For his part, it is easy to see the insinuation of the speech- he believed slavery was immoral and was wholly incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence embodied in the phrase

Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.

union he may have lost the election. In several speeches made by Douglass he expressed "the mission of the war was the liberation of the slaves as well as the salvation of the Union. I reproached the North that they fought with one hand, while they might fight more effectively with two; that they fought with the soft white hand, while they kept the black iron hand chained and helpless behind them; that they fought the effect, while they protected the cause; and said that the Union cause would never prosper until the war assumed an anti-slavery attitude and the Negro was enlisted on the side of the Union." After the announcement of the Proclamation of Emancipation, the Governor of Massachusetts was given permission to create the regiment of

He defends the South’s position on slavery which is a deeply grounded belief. Abraham Lincoln describes this situation as a disagreement on the definition of liberty in his “Address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore” (1864). He explains that liberty may mean “for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men” (Forner 287). It is easy to see how this disagreement was heading in a catastrophic direction as the South continued to fight for the whole reason they came to America in the first place. The Confederates were willing to fight to death to defend their definition of freedom because the North winning the war equated to the very same thing in their minds; the end of their lives.

Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign

As a result of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted as a free state, the territory disputed between Texas and New Mexico was surrendered to New Mexico, the slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia, the Mexican Cession was open to popular sovereignty, and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. In a speech to the Senate on March 7, 1850, Senator Daniel Webster stated his opinion that the North is wrong for not obeying the Fugitive Slave Law and that succession is amiss [Document D].The tone of Webster’s speech is objective as he attempts to see both sides- the North and the South. Webster is unbiased because as a Northern man, he agrees with the South. The peace was only temporary. The Fugitive Slave Law upset Northerners and the Underground Railroad became more active, peaking between 1850 and 1860. Massachusetts went so far as to making it a penal offense for a state official to enforce the act. The act also brought the issue of slavery into the limelight before the entire nation. In fact, by 1858, there was no avoiding the subject of slavery. During the Lincoln-Douglass Debates in a speech at Alton, Illinois on October 15, 1858, Abraham Lincoln stated that slavery was no longer just a political issue [Document G]. Slavery was splitting the nation and during the Second Great Awakening, even churches split over the issue. Lincoln’s speech is

“’One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought to be restricted. That,’ he said with a touch of irony, ‘is the only substantial dispute’” (Oakes 140). People bickered whether or not Lincoln was doing the right thing by signing the Emancipation

Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech on March 4, 1861. It reiterated his promise not to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States and affirmed the rights of states to order and determined their own institutions. According to document A by Abraham Lincoln (First Inaugural Address) says “Exist among people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered”.In his First Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln explained why his duty as the newly-elected president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate political action. Nothing less than the survival of self-government was at stake. As the duly elected president, Lincoln believed that majority rule constrained by “constitutional checks” and informed by public opinion was “the only true sovereign of a

On the other hand, Southerners believed that slavery was a necessary evil for the expansion of America. Historian Eric Foner said, “without slavery, you could not have civilization…it freed the upper class from the need to do manual labor...and therefore gave them the time...to devote themselves to the arts and literature.” (Doc. 4a) He was attempting to convince the opposing side that slavery was required to support American culture and progress. Because the North and the South never could agree or even come to a compromise for very long, tensions rose. Even Abraham Lincoln believed that the United States wouldn’t last half free and half slave, as he stated in his famous “House Divided” speech. This foreshadowed a much bigger disagreement over the issue of slavery, the Civil

Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.” The four times that the North and South had compromised, there were usually only a few issues, or even a single issue. But when 1860 had come around, there were multiple events that occurred before it was too late for a compromise. The South had endured a few events before they decided to secede; these events slowly polarized opinions between the North and the South, leading to a growing sense of sectionalism which identified more with the North or South than they did with the Union. Even though the North and the

Eric Foner argues that the growing that the moral split of slavery in politics was just as irrepressible as the civil war. He argues that the only way to restore the union was through war, thus making it irrepressible. Following the idea that the moral split of slavery was not entailed by the political uprising against or for slavery, politics speakers such as Seward and his “Irrepressible Conflict” speech, were simply a voice for the people. They were able to speak what the people thought and were able to gain such support because their approval. Another political leader who spoke about the irrepressibility of the civil war was Abraham Lincoln in his “House Divided” Speech. He gives this speech in 1858 when he receives the republican nomination for the presidency. He emphasizes that slavery must come to an eventual end in order to preserve the union, even if it must be done with force. He states that in order for slavery to come to it’s eventual end that, “ it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided.” (Lincoln). Slavery would come to an eventual end in the union, but the only way to do achieve this would be through the civil war. The reason for

Back in the early to mid-1800s, one of the biggest issues was slave trade and the ownership of slaves. The United States was one of the last countries to still allow slavery and at the time, there was much debate as to whether or not slavery should still be allowed. As many people know, this issue was heavily debated over for many years, and eventually, became one of the sparks that started one of the biggest wars this nation has ever encountered. There was much debate at the time as to how the slave trade should be regulated; the southern states believed that slave trade should be decided by the states themselves, while the northern states believed that slave trade should be under federal regulation. As the debates grew more heated, parties began to form on both sides, and different compromises and legislations were passed in an attempt to help mollify one side or the other. Some of those being popular sovereignty as well as the Missouri Compromise; these attempts, however, were ultimately futile, as the civil war did eventually begin. Many events that occurred during this time were all overseen by the U.S. government in some way, whether it is through Congress or through the Supreme Court, and in these two areas, tensions also rose and people began to take sides.

Fundamental to Lincoln’s argument was his conviction that slavery must be dealt with as a moral wrong. It violated the statement in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, and it ran counter to the intentions of the Founding Fathers. The “real issue” in his contest with Douglas, Lincoln insisted, was the issue of right and wrong, and he charged that his opponent was trying to uphold a wrong. Only the power of the federal government, as exercised by Congress, could ultimately extinguish slavery. At the same time, Lincoln assured southerners that he had no intention of interfering with slavery in the states where it existed and assured northerners that he was opposed to the political and social equality of the races, points on which he and Douglas

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States. Southern politicians assumed that Lincoln would not take steps to abolish slavery immediately, they were correct, he didn’t, but they pondered on whether he would change his mind in the years to come. It was a well-known fact that President Lincoln did not agree with slavery, and the southern states felt threatened by this. While some southern states opted to secede from the Union, Lincoln, who was against with the secession from the Union, decided not to take

     What did Abraham Lincoln do and think regarding slavery during the Civil War? In Abraham's First Inaugural Address he states "I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."" (Pg 53-54) Lincoln did not want the South to be afraid of his Republican Presidency either. That was why he made these statements at his Inauguration about slavery. Lincoln also talks about leaving the returning of fugitive slave clause alone, and keeping it in the Constitution. He