Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Four years prior to his second Inaugural Address, President Lincoln had given a speech about war, “an impending civil war.” Now, after four years of such conflict, the President is issuing a speech of reconciliation, trying to convince his people to come back together with their Southern brethren, and try and heal the grievously wounded nation. A gifted rhetorician, the President used three primary literary tool s to make his point: parallel structure to illustrate similarities between Northerner and Southerner, allusions to the Bible to highlight the Christian values so important to both, and personification to paint the war as an evil enemy, and the nation as a wounded friend. In the second paragraph, Lincoln concludes with the parallel statements “one… would make war rather than let the nation survive… the other would accept war rather than let it parish, and the war came.”

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).

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.

He utilizes God and the Bible to demonstrate that the general population, both from the North and furthermore the South have similar esteems. Lincoln insinuates, "Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.... but let us judge not, that we be not judged. " What Lincoln said was from the Bible, and a great many people could relate in light of the fact that a large number of the subjects were extremely religious. Lincoln additionally states, "...

President Lincoln finally concluded, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations” (Second Inaugural Address). To explain, Lincoln means that the nation, under God, should reunite as one nation and become the United States not becoming enemies. He also means that God is guiding this nation right now and the nation must be together and not be broken. This means that in order to change, the nation, both sides must be united as one, must strive by giving freedom to everyone that way they can be a unify their nation again. Lincoln’s final decision for going to war was to reunite the nation as one so that everyone can have freedom, meaning that slavery will end, and saving/protecting the

“ With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace amoung ourselves and with all nations.” Throughout Lincoln’s speech his main point is unity. He understands the importance of helping individuals, but he wants the individuals to heal the nation. If enemies can help each other heal, then there is no longer conflict, only solutions. Also, he wants the nation to bind together for the injured people’s families and to help the families who lost someone to the war and are having a hard time.

Abraham Lincoln Essay President of the United States, Abraham LIncoln, in his speech, Second Inaugural Address (Saturday, March 4, 1865), informs the people of the United States of America that they are all of the same creator and live in the same country. So why fight. He supports his claim by first telling about the civil war, then how people all have the same equal rights, then about slavery, and finally that the people in the United States will, “bind up the nation’s wounds”. Lincoln’s purpose is to tell the people what he is going to take care of in his position of presidency, in order to tell people that in the end, they will not make the decisions. God will make the decisions no matter what you want to happen.

On paragraph 7 It says “However, Lincoln continues, God may want the war to continue until all the wealth earned from 250 years of slavery is drained. And he may want the war to continue until every drop of blood drawn from an enslaved person is paid for with a drop of soldier’s blood. Even if this is true, Lincoln says, God is still as just and righteous as he’s ever been. Lincoln then concludes with a call to peace.” Lincoln just wanted peace for everyone.

After reading the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, it seems that Lincoln’s original goal of saving the Union has changed. Now, in addition to saving the Union, Lincoln wants to free the slaves thereby making the Union a model for other countries. After reading the documents, there is a perceptible shift in his rhetoric from his First Inaugural Address to his Second Inaugural Address. He now mentions nations in his speech. Lincoln’s speeches clearly show his change in stance towards his original goal by including language that intermixes his multiple goals together.

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.

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.

It is seen clearly in his word choice that Lincoln calls for a lasting and fair peace, but not only between the North and South. He also calls the American people to apply this concept of peace with other countries and in foreign policy. Throughout his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln employs a variety of rhetorical strategies to promote unity between Americans. As Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

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.

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.

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