ipl-logo

Summary Of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

1297 Words6 Pages

Lincoln's Second Inauguration Address Speech Analysis Just days away from the end of the unexpectedly prolonged war, Abraham Lincoln announced his Second Inauguration Address Speech to the United States public on March 4, 1865. His speech was an explanation of the devastating circumstances that lead to the Civil War and was also intended to encourage the public in taking action in picking up the broken pieces left behind by the war that they alone had caused. In his speech he also mentions that the incorporation of the confederate states back into the U.S. would be underway at the end of the war and that America would need to work collectively for the sake of staying united. In order to meaningfully translate the intentions of his speech …show more content…

“Although it is the second shortest inaugural address in American history, Lincoln’s speech is probably the most memorable in language and content”(White 282). Many scholars consider Lincoln's Second Inauguration Address Speech to be one of the best inauguration speeches made by a president, the lack of length is made up for by the enrichment of his context. Holding the position of president in a time of crisis, Lincoln knew that his people had to see that they were being lead by a leader with a good head on his shoulders (which Lincoln proved to have by presenting his speech elegantly) who could rise them up from the aftermath of four years of war. Besides his word choices, Lincoln also adds ethos to his speech by mentioning facts about events that at the time were in motion. “All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war…”(Abraham Lincoln). The speech brings up the cause of the Civil War. The southern states, or as Lincoln calls them in his speech in order to not point any fingers, “Insurgents” did not want the abolishment of slavery but rather wanted to preserve …show more content…

Lincoln decides to add a religious aspect into his speech and talks about god. “Yet, if God wills that it continue... until every drop of blood drawn with the lash...as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”(Abraham Lincoln). Lincoln mentioned in his speech that he believed that the war was god's punishment on man for imprisoning man under their control. God brought the war for a reason, and only until he decides when it will end, will it end. At the time, with the war causing national depression and distress, many people seeked their answers in a form of a spiritual deity, in hopes that there is indeed something else beyond man that can solve their problems and save them. The use of this fallacy made Lincoln's speech even stronger as it now related with and appealed to an even larger

Show More
Related
387 Words | 2 Pages

On March 4, 1865 in Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln gave his second inauguration address to the nation. In his address to the nation he stated what he would do for the nation during his presidency and tried to prepare the nation for the end of the civil war and slavery. President Lincoln used figurative language, allusion, parallel structure, logos and pathos to express his theme that both sides are at fault and need to come together as one. Lincoln uses the rhetorical appeals pathos and logos during his second inauguration speech.

Read More
464 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
425 Words | 2 Pages

During a time in history when the United States was as divided as it had ever been, Abraham Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address. The Civil War had been raging for four years, and victory was in sight for the Union. Many northern politicians wanted Lincoln to harshly punish and humiliate the South for all of the violence that its succession had caused. However, part of the wisdom that turned Lincoln into an iconic president was his intent to end the war “with malice towards none, with charity for all” and “ to bind up the nation's wounds, [and] to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan” (Second Inaugural Address).

Read More
642 Words | 3 Pages

During the history of the United States there have been very respectable speakers Martin Luther King Jr. John F. Kennedy but perhaps no greater leader in American history came to addressing the country like Abraham Lincoln. In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln gave a short speech concerning the effect of the Civil War and his own personal vision for the future of the nation. In this speech Lincoln uses many different rhetorical strategies to convey his views of the Civil War to his audience.

Read More
784 Words | 4 Pages

During the first year of the Civil War, the reunification of the United States was the only goal of the war. In the year 1862, the second year of the Civil War, President Lincoln gave his annual Congressional Address. The Congressional Address was extremely important because it changed the goal of the war from reunification of the country, to a war fought over the morality of slavery. About a year after the Congressional Address, Lincoln gave another well known speech, the Gettysburg Address. This famous speech was given after the Battle of Gettysburg to honor

Read More
1302 Words | 6 Pages

When Lincoln gave his second inaugural address in 1865, he was speaking to the people of the North in the context of the Civil War. This was the rhetorical situation of Lincoln's speech. Lincoln's purpose was to encourage his audience to win the war and reestablish peace between the North and the South. Many people in both the North and the South had expected the war to be fairly short, but four years later, the country was still at war. For this reason, Lincoln might have worried about his audience losing motivation.

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

The Second Inaugural Address was a speech by Abraham Lincoln about what he will do for the country for his second term on March 4, 1865. At the beginning of the speech he briefly talks about how he will run and that he has high hopes for the future. He spoke to the whole country about what he will do next, but what he said was brief. He has already been president for a 1st term, so he does not say much because he has already said what he wants to do for the county during his first term. Now it is his second term and gives a speech telling the country that he wants to work as a union, to respect and help the army veterans because they go through a lot.

Read More
1968 Words | 8 Pages

However, at the same time he uses his own ethos to promise that he will do everything to unite the union, to prevent war. The entire purpose of the civil war was first and foremost a war to reunify the country. In both his words, promises, and actions he communicates the importance of a unified nation. During the war, lincoln said in the Gettysburg address “are engaged in a civil war, testing whether [the] nation can long endure”, later saying that “this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom and shall not perish from the earth"(Lincoln 1). Together Lincoln addresses the historical context with these two quotes.

Read More
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.

Read More
370 Words | 2 Pages

President, Abraham Lincoln expresses, in his speech, the “Second Inaugural Address” (1865), that he is taking an oath for the second appearing of the Presidential Office. He supports his claim by first telling about how four years ago people based their votes upon the Civil War that was occurring, then he talked about slaves that contributed to the war, then he talks about that the Lord can only judge and that he chooses if the slaves will remain enslaved, and finally he talks about how we as people need to work to keep our nation good. Abraham’s purpose is to remind people about the first Inaugural Address and to encourage them to work on the nation in order to keep a good nation. He establishes a hopeful tone for his fellow countrymen.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

President Abraham Lincoln uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his Second Inaugural Address to pose an argument to the American people regarding the division in the country between the northern states and the southern states. Lincoln gives this address during the American Civil War, when politics were highly debated and there was a lot of disagreement. Lincoln calls for the people of America to overcome their differences to reunite as one whole nation once more. Lincoln begins his Second Inaugural Address by discussing the American Civil War and its ramifications.

Read More
657 Words | 3 Pages

It would be more than difficult not to read Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address without some sense of pride or honor for one’s own country. He brings about a call to civility among all citizens striving for unity and harmony with one another. Lincoln understood the dilemma that slavery became for not only the Northerners attempting to abolish the practice entirely, but also for the Southerners perpetuating it in the first place. The fact that there was a faction rising in favor of slavery on a scale that would divide the country indefinitely and that Lincoln foresaw this danger demonstrates the level of prudence he was able to acquire up until his presidency. In this address, Lincoln stressed the importance of the nation staying unified and true to the principles set by

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” he is speaking to the very emotional nation after many people had just died during the Civil War, he needed to speak to nation to remind them that the sacrifices made by those in the Civil War will not be forgotten and that they must continue with what the war was fought for. He first starts off by referring to how the nation was started then continues to discuss the losses that have occurred from the Civil War and why they should move on while still remembering what the war was fought for. His strong use of rhetorical devices emphasises the goals they must aim for and reassures the nation that they are together in reconstruction by referring to events from the war to

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis The purpose of this speech is detailed in the time period. This speech was written/spoken at the end of the American Civil war. It is President Lincoln’s way of putting a tentative end to the war and a start to the recovery period. He is still oppressing the south in his diction when he states “Both parties deprecated war: but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.

Read More
502 Words | 3 Pages

Rhetorically analyzing the speech, Lincoln uses many literary tactics to engage the audience in taking action in restoring America's unity. He utilizes shifts, comparisons, and repetition to create a speech that connects with the

Read More

More about Summary Of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Related Topics

Open Document