Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Inaugural Address

At the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s second term as the president of the United States, he was confronted with a severely split nation fighting in the bloodiest battle in American history. Lincoln had hoped that, by fighting the South and having them rejoin, he could keep the Union together. Although the Union troops eventually managed to force the Confederates to surrender, a cultural divide remained as the Confederate states were forced to reunite with the North and the North became more hesitant in their determination to subdue the South. Since governing a country in this state would be nearly impossible, Lincoln decided to address both the North and South in his speech by asking them to set aside their disagreements so that the split nation could be repaired. His speech, despite being very brief, connected with both sides through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos which helped him achieve his goal of keeping the

One place where his competency shows is when he prays for the war to end while also implying that he is willing to fight until the North wins. This demonstrates Lincoln’s determination and strong character. Even though he is claiming that he is going to fight until the end, he provides justifications and presents his motives as reasonable: the government simply wanted to limit the spread of slavery. Lincoln is also very reasonable when assessing the actions of the South. He would taunt them from time to time but would restrain his judgments by saying comments such as . Another aspect that appealed to the people is that he was not arrogant. He used terms like “Fellow countrymen” to show that he believed that he was one of the citizens, not the almighty leader. Overall, Lincoln’s ethos was effective because he did not just rant on the people or make exaggerated vows. He was compassionate towards everyone and had realistic