Lincoln 's Greatest Speech Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address was given during a time of crisis. The Southern states feared their newly elected President would soon take their way of life from them, and they would do everything to stop it. The South threatened secession and began electing their own leaders and creating a new constitution. Knowing this would certainly lead to war, in his address Lincoln said, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies” (Lincoln). Lincoln knew that war would tear the country apart, and he wanted to prevent that. As he prepared to give the speech, he kept quiet, but others turned around his silence. Many said he was the reason the Union was divided. In preparing for his speech he knew …show more content…
He continues and says, “…we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes” (Lincoln). Lincoln takes a firm stance against any form of invasion. Obviously trying to prevent war, Lincoln denounces any form of invasion, regardless of the crimes committed. Despite his best efforts, history tells us that the speech failed at preventing the South from seceding and the civil war from beginning. However, that does not fall on Lincoln and his speech. At this point the South seemed to have already made up their minds on leaving the union to form the Confederacy. There is a very good chance that no matter what he said in his speech, it was destined to fail. Next, although Lincoln’s speech did not prevent war, it did show his education and skill as a writer and speaker. It is obvious that even before Abraham Lincoln became President he was a very educated man; however, this speech shows just how true that is. Lincoln shows just how educated he is by showing how knowledgeable he is on American History. In an attempt to show that the Union is never ending Lincoln writes, “Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the
As a matter of fact, during Lincoln’s presidency, many people believed that he was not a suitable president. After hearing his speech, they were drawn to the powerful, effective and persuasiveness he demonstrated. He included ongoing issues of both the North and the South without providing a
“Lincoln said that to try to secede was very illegal. He even went further to say that he would hold the Union together by force if he had to, so I guess that called for an army, and an army usually calls for war,” the soldier finished.
Lincoln tried in several ways to reassure the Southerners about his intentions in his inaugural address. Since some of the Southern states were stirring away from the Union, Lincoln knew he had to do something to try and change the Southerners minds. Also, Lincoln needed to be sure that the Southern states that were in the union, stayed. In order to make sure that the Southern states that were in the union stayed, Lincoln said that there would be no bloodshed or fighting, and that he was not going to attack them. Lincoln also reassured the South by saying that if there was ever a war, it wouldn’t have been his fault and that someone else would have to have started it. Lastly, Lincoln promised the South that if they didn’t leave the union,
During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln was President. Lincoln was willing to abide with what the nation needed in order to preserve it. In his speech, he says “let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him [...] to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations” (Lincoln 4). The President had wanted peace within the union and to prevent it from falling apart in his hands. Lincoln also says, “ These slave constituted a peculiar and powerful interest.
He states “Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy” to say that secession would make the United States look like they lack authority and undermine the unity of the nation. Lincoln believed a state secession should be a vote where all states agree to have some authority in the nation as he stated “but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?”. As the war went on, President Lincoln's views on slavery changed. In fact you can see the change in his speech when he says, “To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would render the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.” It is well known that Lincoln believed all people were equal, even slaves as he states, “conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
In president Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address the exploit of anaphora and parallel structure are used to reveal his purpose of a hopeful and unified future.
The date is June 8th, 2013. It’s a rainy night around midnight, I’m on a nearly empty train heading to Petoria. I’m a little bit anxious because I don’t know anyone at this town, it feels a bit weird. As I’m finally beginning to calm my nerves someone from a couple rows up stands up and begins walking towards me. They asked if It would be okay if they sat with me. I just simply shrugged and they sat down with a smile. “So where are you headed?” They asked, erm… Petoria, have you ever heard of it? “Oh yeah! I have tons of friends in Petoria.” That’s pretty coo- “Oh! Hold your thought, what’s your name? I forgot to ask…” Oh my name… It’s Peter! “Peter?”. Yeah isn’t it a cool name? “Yeah, haha that matches
The northern abolitionists may have wanted to end all slavery, but Lincoln did not, and he was in command of the Union army. He considered it his duty to put down a rebellion, and admitted that any government would put down open rebellion regardless of the reasons that began it. He repeatedly pleads with the southern states to work with him on preserving their right to use slavery, and argues that a union of states who are against the idea of a union is untenable. To him, it is a matter of preserving the Union and its collective strength by not allowing valuable territories to separate themselves of their own accord. Especially when, as he puts it, those territories worries “have no real existence”.
Lincoln believed slavery was "wrong but necessary." Prior to the outbreak of war, President Lincoln left the door open for the South to return. President Lincoln also reiterated to the South he would not free any slaves. Lincoln later said to the writer Horace Greeley that he would do whatever it took to preserve the Union. In a letter dated August 22, 1862, he wrote, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.
After this occurred that did not think that they would would have say in the government anymore and how things were going to be run. The new president tried to assure the south that he would not end slavery but they did not listen to him. “ In your hands, my dissatisfied country, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of… war. The government will not assail you you…. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.” -Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861. This statement shows that Abraham Lincoln was sacred that the Union was going to break apart. He tried to assure the south that the north would not end their slavery but they did not listen and the United States was launched into a civil war.
On November 19, 1863, the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, declared in his famous Gettysburg Address, "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." Lincoln 's sentiments express the longstanding tension between the North and the South about state 's rights and slavery. Both of these causes sparked the Federalist vs. Antifederalist debates, Abolitionist Movement, and Dred Scott decision that ultimately fueled the divide that started the civil war.
In Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum speech given in 1838, he instructs the audience how perpetuate our political institutions. How do we keep our country united? “The answer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty…swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.” But what about bad or unjust laws? “[I]f they exist, [they]should be repealed as soon as possible, still while they continue in force, for the sake of example, they should be religiously observed.”
Two years before the Civil War officially began, people were already wary of the problems that slavery could cause in the nation. In his “House Divided” Speech at the Republican Convention in 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned that slavery would cause a war, saying that the two opinions on the matter were too different to
President Abraham Lincoln orated a powerful persuasive speech in his Second Inaugural Address, just one month before the end of the Civil War. This speech shed light to his contemplation of the effects of the Civil War and provided his vision for the future of the nation. Lincoln’s address was written through a logical theme that focused on the unity of the country. He used religion, specific diction, and flat-out logical thinking to convey his message. The speech was given as the Civil War was ending, and President Lincoln wanted to provide a bit of light in a very dark time. He could have given the lengthy speech that the audience expected; but instead, he gave a short message of unity that fueled the United States for years to come.
Lincoln’s main goal for his presidency was to unify the Union after the Civil War had torn the North and the South apart. In Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” he says, “While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war...” (Lincoln 68). When Lincoln was elected for his first term, he wanted to unify the Union even before the war had