Allusions In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Lincoln chooses to make certain religious allusions in his speech, in an attempt to unify the divided country around a common central concept: religion. Lincoln makes such references to religion to confirm others beliefs, and assure them that God stands with them, even in such a difficult time. To show sympathy towards African Americans, and to unify them with the others in the country, Lincoln states, “Both read the same bible, and both pray to the same God.”

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.

“Neither anticipated” the “conflict” it would cause. Lincoln is contemplating the results that this war will have, at this point he looks at is as now we must put war into the hands of the “almighty.” If “American slavery” is a “providence of God” then we must cease to accept it. Lincoln expresses that God gave both “North and South this terrible war.” Then goes on to logically explaining that the country is a “bondsman” and has an abundance of debt that must be “paid.” The war will not be over until every drop of “blood” has been “drawn” with the “lash” that shall be “paid.” God will not grant this war to be over until a price has been paid. Lincoln explains that the judgements of the “Lord are true” and “righteous” altogether. Lincoln conveys that the outcome of war is now in God’s hands.

“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.

Lincoln employed biblical allusions and imagery throughout his speeches and writings to articulate political religion and give the political principles a new appearance for the people to understand, admire, and reassert. President Lincoln’s use of biblical imagery helped revoke the platform the supporters of the institution of slavery argued upon, while appealing to the nation through romantic religious language. The biblical imagery encased in Lincoln’s rhetoric allowed for a better understanding of the republican principles found within the nation’s sacred documents that constituted for a national political religion.

The Civil War was a period of racial injustice and a time of great loss for the people of America. During Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he creates a moral framework for peace and reconciliation with the use of many rhetorical strategies. With a sincere but reflective tone, Abraham Lincoln highlights the reality of the troubled nation and the solution to all of the problems, which is unity. Lincoln repeats strong phrases to enhance the theme, references to a holy figure, and creates simple, yet structured ideas to achieve his purpose of reuniting the broken nation.

Lincoln states, “Both read the same bible” and “pray to the same God”, is interpreting that both the North and the South shared similar beliefs, such as the bible and God, that there is only one God that the people worship. Lincoln then goes off and says “woe unto the world because of offenses… but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” He has now made a reference to the bible, that the nation is now corrupt and is doing wrong, which later also stating that “American slavery” is the reason America has become this way. By referring back to the bible, what many people know, love and live their lives from what it says really touches the people emotions and makes them believe of the wrong that they have caused.

Abraham Lincoln, the fourteenth president of the United States, describes the effects of the Civil War and its possible outcome of the war in his Second Inaugural Address. Lincoln’s purpose is to manifest hope as the end of the war nears. Utilizing his credibility, word choice, and commonplace allows Lincoln to reach out to the diverse, American audience.

In his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln shared a vision with the American people in the last month of the Civil War. He mentions the irony of this war and the effects it brings to the nation. Lincoln's use of rhetorical strategies opens the eyes of readers and reveals the reality of the war and its foolishness. He shares his desire and vision of unity with the American people in this address. The condition of the Unites States of America was a bloody state in where brethren. Lincoln uses this very same fact by revealing that "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God." Lincoln also emphasizes the strange fact that "any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in writing their bread for the sweat of other men's

The use of biblical allusions in Lincoln’s address creates an appeal to both the North and the South that draws both of their attention to the war that they imposed onto the nation. Regarding the issue of slavery, both the North and South utilized the Bible as support for their arguments of either keeping or abolishing the institution. Towards the end of Lincoln’s speech, he alludes to the biblical verse of James 5:16 when he speaks about the end of the war declaring,” Fondly do we hope – fervently do we pray – that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.” From the beginning, Lincoln sought to avert war and to convince the nation, especially the South, to avert it as well. By this time, the war had been ongoing for four years, in

Throughout Lincolns Speech he often times alludes to references the general population knows about so they can connect to him and his statements while receiving a greater knowledge of his purpose. The Bible and God was the foundation of early America so most people would understand Lincoln when he states, “ Woe unto the world because of offenses for it must need be that offences come; but woe to that man the offense commenth” (Lincoln 2). This passage comes from the Bible’s book of Matthew, a popular book in the Bible, since so many can understand the quote for it original meaning they can see this quote in light of how Lincoln is relating it to the slavery problem. The audience understands that God wouldn’t want the act of slavery to have been performed and since men started this vile act, and the ones who performed this would be deemed to hell. These men had no remorse and are human scum and the godly world woes these men in a full offense. Lincoln further alludes to Bible’s references when he states, “ and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with this sword, as was said 3000 years ago so still it must be said” (Lincoln 2-3). The judgment of the Lord was taught as true and righteous altogether. This allusion to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is well known to many and Lincoln uses this to demonstrate that until this great sin is corrected the slaveholder will not be forgiven. Lincolns use of allusion gives the reader deeper context and makes his statements more understandable.

Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address was very different from his first one, making it the most profound political statement in American History. While 1865 was the last year of the Civil War, Lincoln still had to console the public how the reconstruction of a slave free nation would take place moving forward. But the war had been long and arduous, and the lives lost would not be forgotten easily by both sides. So the best way to address then was to keep the speech selfless and expressive in a few sentences.

The body seems to contain logical facts such as the population of the black slaves in the country’s entire population and that most of these slaves live in the southern region of the nation. He seems to acknowledge the facts that slaves wanted the rights to their freedom, but the only action the government took against it was to stop slavery in states and territories. This part of the speech then mixes ethos and pathos together. Lincoln seems to be trying to convince the people that both the North and the South tried to avoid war just like how many citizens never wanted the war to happen. He states people from the North and South praise the same God which also relates to the majority of the population which are Protestant citizens. At the same time of emotional appeal he convinces people that God is offended by the war, but even though the people pray for the fighting to stop, it still

Lincoln's main appeal relies on ethics and the moral belief that God is righteous. Lincoln describes how,”both [sides of the union] read from the same bible and pray to the same god,

One of the examples from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address that incorporated religion and mentioned in the film is when he stated God’s will in relation to the American Civil War. Lincoln commented