Rhetoric In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

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.

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.

Lincoln begins his Second Inaugural Address by discussing the American Civil War and its ramifications. As Lincoln gives this speech the war is winding down, which is the reasoning behind the urgency for the unity which Lincoln calls for. Lincoln says “The progress of our arms

Lincoln indirectly questions the ethics behind owning slaves by referring to the bible and reveals the South using God as an excuse for racism. Quoting the bible, Lincoln concludes that “He now wills to remove” implying that God wishes to abolish slavery. The former president convoys God to have “his own purposes” suggesting to leave the war in God's hands. He alludes the South by asking about the ethics of praying to God in order to keep the cruel and unjust act of slavery. Lincoln incorporates religion in his speech to display the North and South refer to the same

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America gave his 2nd inaugural address a month before the intense civil war’s end. In this address to the Union, he provides strong facts while also giving them the actual examples of the crime the confederates has committed. He is staggering the audience while also surprising them with a short speech rather than a lengthy one. In this speech, he uses several rhetorical strategies like his manipulation of diction, tone, and syntax in order to achieve his purpose.

Abraham Lincoln, a Senate candidate at the time, gave his famous “A House Divided” speech on June 16, 1858, in Illinois at the Republican State Convention. When Lincoln delivered the speech his immediate audience was the Illinois Republican Party, but after reading the speech one can see that it was intended for a much larger audience. His speech was intended to impact people of both parties, and to change the way the people thought.

Abraham Lincoln in the speech, The Gettysburg Address, constructs a point of achieving a "just and lasting peace" between the North and South without retribution. Lincoln supports his assertion by justifying his beliefs of unity between the states. Lincoln's purpose is to influence the people to not allow what has been done to go to waste. He wants his audience to realize that this division will only persist if no one settles the current issues in society. Lincoln speaks in a sympathizing, determined tone to address the Americans who are mourning the loss of their loved ones and to the rest of Americans who he wants to see a change from.

One month prior to the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address. The address, spoken before his second term as president, was intended to give his views on the causes of the Civil War and to list reasons why the war started. In the speech, Lincoln addresses the reasons and causes of the war and tries to bring the North and South together. In order to convince the two to unite once more, Lincoln uses alliteration, allusion, synecdoche, and metonymy to make his point and purpose clear.

In his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln addressed the topic of the Civil War and argued that the nation needed to change. He supported his claim with parallel structure to highlight the differences between the North and South, then mentioning biblical references to express the importance of religion, and finally the diction he used helped join the citizens together. President Lincoln’s purpose was to express the similarities between the North and South in order to unify the country once again. He uses a critical, yet hopeful tone towards the Americans of both the North and South.

Lincoln’s political religion grounds itself in the American principle of equality. His political religion was necessary to bind the nation together in a time of dire need. The nation stood divided. One side believed it was their natural right to reap the fruits of another man’s labor, which denied his natural rights as well as his humanity, while the other side disagreed, affirming the humanity of the slaves and remained free. Lincoln pushed to change public sentiment in regard to slavery. In his 1858 speech “A House Divided”, he wrote,

Audiences are not only regretful they have offended God but Lincoln has also lifted some of the blame from both sides. Now, the American public are thinking that perhaps this war was not caused by them but given to them. Using this logic, Lincoln eases the anger from both North and South, having audiences reflect upon what they have done in allowing slavery over the course of American history thus far, instead of looking at each other for accusations. Lincoln furthers alleviates conflict as he closes his allusion to the Bible with a second quote that almost defends the war as he claims “the judgements of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.” Through use of this quotation, Lincoln asserts that the Civil War was a judgement by God, therefore true and righteous, leaving the American public with no other logical choice than to accept this war as a necessary reality. Therefore, Lincoln’s use of biblical allusions and the acknowledgement that America

When Abraham Lincoln first became president, the Civil War was in its infancy. However, at his second election, things could not have been any more different. The country was divided and there was anger among the people of the north and the south. When Abraham Lincoln gives his speech after being elected president again, his purpose is to convince the two unions to put aside their issues that separate them and unify to heal their broken nation. Lincoln’s use of positive diction, optimistic tone, and biblical allusions help to achieve his purpose.

Abraham Lincoln, “United States President,” in his second inaugural address to the country has the hopes of unifying the country and resolving the current bloodshed throughout the country. He ended up leading the Union to a victory over the southern states in the civil war. This preserved the union. Not only did Lincoln see a path to victory, but he also envisioned a way to lead the United States to peaceful relations among its states. Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, employed the rhetorical strategies of Religion, Logic, and Pathos to show the people of this divided nation what he envisioned for this unstable nation.

When Abraham Lincoln took t the stand for his second inaugural speech, people were surprised by the short but effective speech that was given. Abraham Lincoln talked about some of the motives each side had and their reasons. Lincoln used some rhetorical devices to not only persuade his audience, but to show them that things could get better. He uses it very efficiently to provide solutions and to see past their problems.

In addition he delivered the Second Inaugural Address. President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was carried out on March 4, 1865 during his second appearing as President of the United States. A point that was stated in his address was slavery. He reminded everyone how slavery was the main point of the Civil War and he felt and proposed it insulted GOD. Another point was about the war. Abraham Lincoln prayed and hoped the war would end soon. He was looking ahead of time to the day he could put the country back together.He wanted everything to come together.