Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
When a kindergartener decides to steal the last croutons of lunch, they go under the label “mortal enemy” for the rest of their existence. That label will only ever be changed on the occasion that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and the occurrence of this is rare indeed. It seems strange to think that this is what would happen after this nation’s bloodiest war, the Civil War, and yet, it did. Abraham Lincoln, after his reelection for his second term, in the same year as the end of the war, would declare that both North and South, once mortal enemies, be brought together as allies to face an even more destructive enemy, the devastation of war itself. After a brutal 4 years and 750,000 casualties, the two sides of the war had a vital job …show more content…
Within this address, Lincoln captivates a war-torn nation in order to communicate a message of unity to the once opposing sides of the Civil war, North and South, in hopes of being able to convince the people to work together and “bind up the nation’s wounds.”
Lincoln’s address is scattered with parallel structure however, its appeal to emotion is most clearly observed when Lincoln utilized it alongside comparative diction to unite North and South as people of similarities rather than differences. In the entirety of his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln never once discussed North and South as two sides of an argument, instead his comparison of them begins as he speaks of how “both parties deprecated the war.” His use of parallel structure then aided this comparison as he details that one side would “make war rather than let the nation survive;
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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
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