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Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address Summary

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Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky. As a child, he was only able to attend school for a few weeks, but he continued to educate himself through reading. Later in his life, he began a career as a lawyer. Then, he started a career in politics. He joined the Republican party and ran as a Republican in the presidential election. Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States of America. He was elected president in 1860, and he was inaugurated the next year. Lincoln ran up against John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephan Douglas, and he won the electoral vote. During the time of his election, there were disputes between the Northern (free) states and Southern (slave) states on topics such as slavery, …show more content…

He made it clear that he was not trying to get rid of slavery where it already existed, and that he had no intention of ending slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act is also brought up in his speech. He reassured the South that he was not changing that law in any way. He also said he did not want to change anything in the Constitution. Lincoln then went on to explain that no one can leave the Union because the Constitution says it cannot be broken up. At the end, he said that they need to work together to come up with a solution peacefully, but if they failed to do so, he would have had to respond aggressively. He did not want any type of war to occur, and so he closed his speech with saying that they are not enemies, but …show more content…

It was written by the President himself about the impending issues of the country and what his goals were as president. He knew about the serious issues that could’ve possibly started between the Union and the Confederacy, and he tried to prevent those things from happening. Although it does not give details about the seceding states or the war itself, it gives general information about that period. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is also a source that is very reliable for some changes that were made during the Civil War. He was unhappy with the secession of the southern states, so he decided to act upon it to see if it would make the states want to rejoin the Union. These two sources are as reliable as can be because they both were written at the exact time the event took place. Neither of them are recounts of past events, so there is no way any of the information can be misconstrued. These sources are not story-tellers of events of the Civil War; they are actual speeches that were heard by everyone in the United States during that time. The First Inaugural Address and the Emancipation Proclamation are two of the most accurate sources from the Civil War

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During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency at the start of the 1860, an issue that had divided the nation was slavery. Lincoln’s election to presidency as a republic was not received well by the Southern slave states, as they thought that as a republican he was out to abolish slavery. In an effort to calm southern states and keep them from seceding from the United States, he attempts to ease them with his First Inaugural Address. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency.

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Within this address, Lincoln captivates a war-torn nation in order to communicate a message of unity to the once opposing sides of the Civil war, North and South, in hopes of being able to convince the people to work together and “bind up the nation’s wounds.” Lincoln’s address is scattered with parallel structure however, its appeal to emotion is most clearly observed when Lincoln utilized it alongside comparative diction to unite North and South as people of similarities rather than differences. In the entirety of his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln never once discussed North and South as two sides of an argument, instead his comparison of them begins as he speaks of how “both parties deprecated the war.” His use of parallel structure then aided this comparison as he details that one side would “make war rather than let the nation survive;

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One thing that really interested me about Lincoln “Second Inaugural Address” is that it was not a typical speech celebrating the end of the war. Instead of talking about themes such as victory or triumph, specifically over the institution of slavery, Lincoln tone is remarkable sad and melancholy. This is perhaps due to his desire to unite the country. He furthers this point by arguing that both sides “read the same bible, and prayed to the same God.” One consists theme of this speech is that both sides should essentially drop their malice and try to be compassionate towards one another.

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He says, “If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.” This persuaded the border states to stay with the North because the only issue they had was keeping slavery. In addition, when to publish the Emancipation Proclamation was an issue, but Lincoln was told not to do so. He waited to publish the Emancipation Proclamation after a victory because if he issued it after a loss, he would have seemed

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President Abraham Lincoln, in his inaugural address, addresses the topic of the civil war and its effects on the nation and argues that America could be unified once more. He supports his claim by using massive amounts of parallel structure and strong word choice. Lincoln ‘s purpose is to contemplate the effects of the civil war in order to unite the broken America once again. He adopts a very hopeful tone for his audience, the readers of the inaugural address and others interested in the topic of American history and the civil war.

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172 Words | 1 Pages

On page 571 it states that "president Abraham Lincoln issued a call for troops to save the Union." He issued a call for more volunteers for the army. He also issued a proclamation urging the people of Maryland to join the Confederacy. What his action caused was for Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas to join the Confederacy. President Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation for a nation divided by war.

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Abraham Lincoln was a strong believer in people 's individual freedom no matter the race, and with the start of the civil war he decided to take action. In 1863 Lincoln delivered one of his famous speeches; the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation added to the effects with the civil war because with the speech “the aim of the war changed to include the freeing of slaves in addition to preserving the Union. Although the Proclamation initially freed only the slaves in the rebellious states, by the end of the war the Proclamation had influenced and prepared citizens to advocate and accept abolition for all slaves in both the North and South.” The

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On March 4,1865, President Abraham Lincoln stood before his country to address the current and future state of the nation during his second Inauguration. The civil war had been raging for four long years, leaving the American people tired and worn. The people were well of the damage the civil war had caused their nation; they looked to Lincoln for a source of comfort and hope. Families and friends had been forced to turn away from each other as the union tore itself in two.

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The address touches on the idea of equality throughout. Lincoln appeals to the idea that the founding fathers built the nation with the people's freedom in mind when he states “A new nation, conceived in Liberty. ”(Lincoln, paragraph 1). This appeals to the notion that people want to have freedom, including the slaves who had no freedom, in Lincoln's time, and was one of the primary reasons the Civil War was occurring. Lincoln uses the idea of freedom to change people's mind about the issue.

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In this next part of the speech, he admits that the Civil War lasted longer than expected (Lincoln). This supports his tone, as it shows he is not trying to distract from the issue at hand and gets right to the facts. He also brings in parallelism, as he notes, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God…” (Lincoln). He uses this to emphasize and tie in the fact that, regardless of North or South, everyone has the same general beliefs in God.

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It was with great compassion and drive that President Abraham Lincoln governed our country while ending the dispute that caused our country to abscond from unity and transcend into such estrangement of ideals. This accomplishment is one to be admired not only because it is one of immense proportions, but because he accomplished it with a cleanliness of morals that inspires others toward such purity of mind as exemplified in Lincoln’s words in the second inaugural address: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…”. With this, his amazing compassion, and his resolve toward a true democracy, he strove

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536 Words | 3 Pages

"To care for him who shall has borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan," promised Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. So the question remains, are we really keeping Lincoln 's promise all the veterans and their families? First off, who is qualified for entering for benefits and medical services? Coming from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs or known as the VA if one enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered active duty after October 16, 1981, and must of served for 24 continuous months, served the full time they were called to serve, and serviced actively only then is the veterans eligible to apply for help from the VA.

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"I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so" Lincoln said in his First Inaugural, talking about slavery. He says he can't do so because the Constitution does not mention slavery, so he does not feel inclined to try and change slavery as a president. He later does change the Constitution. Lincoln along with the other branches of government passed the bill to grant slaves their freedom. The Lincoln movie showed clearly how he changed the Constitution by proposing the bill, which he said he didn't see changing slavery as his right.

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793 Words | 4 Pages

The Civil War was a time period of social, political, and economic tensions. The North and South fought to decide whether to stop or continue slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the then president, addresses the two crowds before and after the war; however, in the second address, after the war, he uses specific literary devices to convey his message, of the need to end slavery. Abraham Lincoln uses varied sentence structure and appeals, in his succinct Second Inaugural Speech, to try to bring back harmony in the states and the abolitionment of slavery. Abraham Lincoln uses varied sentence structure to emphasize his message of harmony and abolition of slavery.

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It’s March 4th of 1865, when Abraham delivered his second Inaugural Address. Standing in the crowd listening to this, I don’t believe a word. Standing with fellow confederate sympathizers I wanted to make a difference for them. Lincoln is wrong and someone needs to change. “I had a splendid chance… to kill the president where I stood” (American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series).

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