Allusions In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one” is the unofficial motto of the United States of America. Yet how can a nation remain united when ethnic diversity has frequently led to the Balkanization of political states? America thrives as a result of the common sense of national pride existing among citizens that stems from the idea that the United States has received divine intervention on numerous occasions, and as a result of the fact that unlike many other nations, America was founded with the purpose of being diverse and providing freedom for all.

Various events throughout the history of the United States have led to the belief that the country has experienced guidance from a divine entity in order to flourish in the way that it has. This

In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln employed various allusions to the Bible in order to show that the Civil War was a form of divine punishment for slavery that could only be amended through “the providence of God” (5). His purpose in his address was to restore hope in the citizens of the Union, and he accomplished this by utilizing Bible verses to create an ethical appeal to the idea that through God, America would be able to prosper in the face of opposition. This shows that Lincoln was well aware of the pride that Americans felt in the idea that the United States is God’s nation, and for many people, this firm belief still exists today. A second example that utilizes the idea that the United States is controlled by the hands of God in order to invoke pride and nationalism is Emmanuel Leutze’s famous painting George Washington Crossing the Delaware. In the painting, an aura of light surrounds George Washington and the American

The painting, George Washington Crossing the Delaware, illustrates this concept by assigning all of the men in Washington’s boat different styles of clothing and different skin tones in order to show that they are all from unique backgrounds (Leutze). This also qualifies as an emotional appeal, it attempts to bring pride to minority groups by showing that men from all origins had to work together to accomplish the task of defeating the British. The fact that the American Revolution relied on such a wide scope of individuals, even though racial discrimination was prevalent at the time shows that today it is just as vital for members of all races and ethnicities to come to terms with their differences and cooperate in order to ensure that America continues to survive as a nation. Lincoln’s address discusses how both the north and south “pray to… God” and “[invoke] his aid” (4). The use of anaphora can be seen as logos because Lincoln gave multiple examples of how the citizens of the Union were not as different from the people living in the south as they may have initially imagined. The fact that both the Northerners and Southerners worshipped the same God is parallel to the fact that while America may be composed of a wide variety of people in the present day, all of