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. In Lincoln’s First inaugural Address he attacks this immense problem of slavery. He begins with a promise that states that although he is a republican
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was a short but very strong message to a country that was already tired of the war. According to that message, the main reason that Civil War started were slaves. It was not a secret that about one-eighth of the population of America were black slaves who were localized in the south of the Union. In the south part almost everyone were interested in having a black slaves because there were some reasons in that. To begin with, black slaves were free workers, and that was a good option to run a business.
He disliked how the south was creating new slave states, and how it was slowly making slavery permanent in America, this led him to become the head of the Republicans to fight for what he believed in. Another boulder was how stubborn the South was to end slavery. It is true that they needed it because of all the farm land and labor that was needed to be done, it would just be easier to do the chores by utilizing slaves, but Lincoln believed that, that was unethical to use people to their advantage. To overcome this, Lincoln made the Emancipation and the Gettysburg Address (consisting of 4 major parts; to help the government, “all men created equal” (Oates 138), outlaw old leaders in rebel Dixie, and lastly obeying the Emancipation Proclamation) these were a mandatory part of Reconstruction. There is also the dispute between Douglas and Lincoln that Lincoln “desired intermarriage and racial mongrelization” (Oates 71), stated by Douglas.
Rhetorical Situation Speaker: 1. Who is speaking The speaker in the second Inaugural address is Abraham Lincoln. 2. Why was this person chosen to speak?
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union (35).’ This letter is very important because it contradicts everything that Lincoln said in his First Inaugural Address just seven months before this was written. In his address he stated that he didn’t have the authority from the constitution to interrupt slavery, but after the letter he was willing to ignore the whole Constitution and emphasize more or less powers in the dictatorship.
Imagine, a man with a tall hat going up to the podium. The words coming out of his mouth increases the audience inspiration every second. Abraham Lincoln had a way with words, his best being shown through the Second Inaugural address and the Gettysburg address. Furthermore, these two documents had a special meaning at that time as well as today. The documents will be presented in a manner of similarities and differences, through purpose, syntax and rhetorical devices.
I originally forgot to consider the European power factor in his timing and urgency, and do agree it was a strong factor in his timing. I believe more influential were the internal factors of keeping the union bonded together and not polarizing the issue that was already so much a point of contention among the Union and border states. Also I strongly agree that Lincoln was a genius in placing clear motivational distinction between the Union and Confederate, by making the North for freedom and the South against it. He intentionally made the divide bigger to motivate the Union to continue in a long war.
The 16th president of the united states, Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address, Lincoln states that though the first inaugural speech was important, there was an even more important topic at hand now. He talks about how even with the war coming to an end, blacks and whites are still be treated differently and he is very against this. He first supports his claim by saying that blacks and whites are equal by that they pray to the same God and pray the same prayers yet they are not equal in the eyes of society. He then goes on to say that in the end God will judge us all the same. Lincoln’s purpose of this statement is to say that he is against inequality in order to make a country that is not at ends with each other over the color of someone 's skin.
I agree with him because a lot of people that were in a high social also political standing such as Lincoln were supposed to speak long speeches using grammar and complex words. After all Lincoln spoke in common language so the people could understand it better also gave a short speech stating the importance and gravity of the situation
Slavery had been a central issue in the United States since the founding of the country when the Founding Fathers As the U.S. moved closer to war, it became more divided by its attitudes, interests, and general lifestyles. Although sectionalism, the loyalty to interests of a particular region over the country, can be traced to the earliest years of the new nation, it became more of an obstacle in the 19th century as Americans began to see themselves as either Southerners or Northerners. Although sectional discord was an important factor leading to the onset of war, at its core was the division and conflicts related to slavery. This is seen with a brief examination of the election of 1860.
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.
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.
In this election, Lincoln and Douglas had some series of debates over slavery. Although Lincoln never exactly stated that he wanted to abolish slavery, much of the South believed he was an Abolitionist. At his speech in 1858 in Springfield Illinois, Lincoln wanted the nation to be one thing or another, meaning all free or all slave, because it couldn’t keep going on how it was, else it would fall apart. In his speech, Lincoln said, “...but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other” (Doc G).
Lincoln's uses rhetorical strategy throughout his Second Inaugural Address was the use of an appeal to his audience's emotions. This is evident during his entire speech Lincoln continuously revert to religious evidence of some sort to support his claim. He says that although it may seem absurd for slavery's proponents to be allowed to pray to God, that his audience and he should “judge not that [they] be not judged,” alluding to the Lord's Prayer and appealing to his audience's Christian beliefs. He continues religion when talking about the Christians, he states, “Fondly do [they] hope, fervently do
Fighting for equality was a relevant theme in early America; however, fighting was only half the struggle, once you won what happened next was up to the leaders of the new system. In Abraham Lincoln’s speech “ The Second Inaugural Address”, America is nearing the end of the civil war and Lincoln explains what should happen next as their victory approaches. Through the use of rhetorical strategies such as diction, allusion, and syntax the audience connects to Lincoln and his statements while understanding the great capability of America. 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.
Lincoln’s main purpose was freedom, and the blacks began to search for identity. On 1 January 1863, “Lincoln proclaimed that the freedom of all slaves in rebellious regions was now a Union war aim- ‘an act of justice’ as well as ‘military necessity’