Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

He states how both, the North and South, “read the same Bible and pray to the same God,” and neither the North nor South expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it attained. Lincoln also maintains an optimistic tone throughout the speech and invokes unity with his parallel structured sentences.

The Civil War was a period of racial injustice and a time of great loss for the people of America. During Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he creates a moral framework for peace and reconciliation with the use of many rhetorical strategies. With a sincere but reflective tone, Abraham Lincoln highlights the reality of the troubled nation and the solution to all of the problems, which is unity. Lincoln repeats strong phrases to enhance the theme, references to a holy figure, and creates simple, yet structured ideas to achieve his purpose of reuniting the broken nation.

The bloodiest war in American history, led by Abraham Lincoln for the north, and Jefferson Davis for the south, both presidents, but two different sides. Both garner for peace, yet one is willing to start a war, while the other is willing to accept it. This essay will compare and contrast the political, economical, and social outlooks on Lincoln’s and Davis’ Inaugural addresses throughout the civil war between the North and South. Slavery, laws, and state rights drove the South to start a war, and Lincoln received the war with open arms. Both sides wanted peace, but their means of achieving it and their leaders’ choices and beliefs differed greatly while still holding similarities.

On March 4, 1865, four long years after the onset of the Civil War, United States President Abraham Lincoln presented his consolidating Second Inaugural Address with “high hope for the future.” His ideas for progression metamorphosed from “saving the Union without war,” in his First Inaugural Address, to salvaging what remained of the ruptured relationship between the North and South in his Second Inaugural Address and mending the wounds suffered by both. The president achieved his intent by using cogent parallelism paired with elaborate allusions to reveal that both the North and the South possess corresponding traits, and descriptive diction to ekove more than emotions in his audience.

Alongside the religious allusions, Lincoln uses a non-accusatory tone towards both sides of the battle in an attempt to not assign blame, and to keep the audience engaged and open to what he was saying. He says, “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.” He is careful to not call out the North, or the South. He also refers to the members of the other

Weeks of wet weather had occurred before Saturday March 4th, 1865, making Pennsylvania Avenue a thick, muddy place; however, the pounding rain did not stop the spectators from listening to Lincoln give his Second Inaugural Address, given one month before the end of the Civil War. The Civil War was the result of a long standing controversy over slavery. The North and the South did not agree with each other. Slavery in the North had died out to the point where almost all blacks were free. The South on the other hand very few blacks were free. Causing a long lastly disagreement between both sides. When Lincoln gave his speech spectators were expecting a speech on slavery when Lincoln gave a dark gloomy speech that no one saw coming. The Civil War had lasted through his passed presidency and ended five days before his death. United States President Abraham Lincoln surprised his massive audience with a very short speech in which he talked about the effects of the Civil War, and expressed his feelings toward the future of the United States. Lincoln wanted to restore faith in the nation, talking about how the war would end soon, and that the nation was going to reunite. In this short speech Lincoln asserts that the audience knows and is knowledgeable about the war, which shows that the Americans know the war was just by using juxtaposition. Lincoln addresses his opinion towards the war, and makes it clear by utilizing biblical allusion, creating a basis of mutual agreement between the North and the South.

A pathway of reconciliation and healing is what President Lincoln wishes for the country. Lincoln also personifies the nation as having “wounds” which the American people must now bind up in order to heal and save the nation from death. The phrase, “bind up” invokes the emotion of healing not only the personal wounds suffered by the American people because of the war, but also the wounds of the nation as a whole. After the nations wounds have been bound, then “lasting peace” will follow, as with the unity of the nation. President Lincoln also reminds the people of their similarities and focuses on their same religious belief and God by stating, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God”. In doing this Lincoln emphasizes the similarities of both the north and south in order to reunite them after the Civil War crisis.

Lincoln’s optimistic tone attempts to persuade the audience into forgiving the South and making peace. For instance, Lincoln says, “to bind up the nation’s wounds,”, a bright and encouraging quote for the country’s future. By referring to the Union and Confederacy as a one entity, it depicts them as a single united country. What Lincoln also suggests is that the Civil War is not fatal and that the

With the eruption of the Civil War came one of the biggest tribulations and trials that this country has ever faced, but as we understand the motives of one of the greatest Presidents in American History we can see that the Civil War was inevitable. From his original intentions of merely preserving the Union and holding the country together, to permanently abolishing slavery we can observe why prevailing in the struggle of the Civil War is one of Lincoln’s defining legacies. Thus, as the civil war draws to a close, an old tumultuous era has ended, and a new more prosperous era has

The Civil War was a trying time in American History; societies crumbled, lives were lost, and a nation was torn apart in order to be made whole. However, was this conflict inevitable? Were the North and the South destined to battle out their differences? Were the decisions made by President Abraham Lincoln to make war on the CSA justified? While there is much deliberation on this topic, the final answer is yes to each and every question. The North and the South, though they shared many similarities, were irreparably divided over the slavery issue, such that conflict could not be avoided. Lincoln’s deliberations on the situations of the day were the only acceptable response to the issues at hand. Disagreement caused by the slavery issue

The American Civil War was a disastrous and detrimental era marked by mass casualties and a collapsing nation. Abraham Lincoln’s iconic speech, “The Gettysburg Address”, provides numerous rhetorical strategies to strengthen his appeal to end the war, unite the North and South, and honor the fallen soldiers who gave their lives to his cause. Lincoln’s application of various rhetorical devices, i.e. repetition, anaphora, and antithesis, enhance his claim, which is to unify the nation.

Not every southern Confederate felt this strongly about slavery or desired to go to war. Some southerners, like the Lenoirs, did not necessarily want to have slaves but didn’t really know how to accomplish anything without them on a plantation. Walter Lenoir had planned to move north to be free of the burdens of managing slavery, but with the battle at Fort Sumter, Southerners who were leaning one way or the other were suddenly forced to defend their homes and families from what they considered a declaration of war. Walter had already decided that, “If we are to have disunion, I will cast my fortunes with the South…” (Barney

After thoroughly assessing past readings and additional research on the Civil War between the North and South, it was quite apparent that the war was inevitable. Opposed views on this would have probably argued that slavery was the only reason for the Civil War. Therefore suggesting it could have been avoided if a resolution was reached on the issue of slavery. Although there is accuracy in stating slavery led to the war, it wasn’t the only factor. Along with slavery, political issues with territorial expansion, there were also economic and social differences between North and South. These differences, being more than just one or two, gradually led to a war that was bound to happened one way or another.

While he might have pointed a heavier finger towards the South, he reminded the audience that “all dreaded it, [and] all sought to avert it.” The country couldn’t be united if the population was constantly blaming each other. He emphasized that while the whole country might have been at fault, the cause was “localized in the southern part.” What started as a disagreement between two parts of a country turned into the bloodiest war fought in the young country’s history. “Neither party expected… the magnitude” of the war, and “neither anticipated that the cause” (which was slavery) would end “before the conflict… should cease.” Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation before the end of the Civil War, so the main cause of the war was essentially concluded before the war itself was concluded. So, in conclusion, he managed to unite the country even further by acknowledging that both the North and the South held part of the blame of the

Aggression – ‘the export of violence’ – played a central role in the rise of the West. Military and naval superiority rather than better resources, greater moral rectitude, irresistible commercial acumen underpinned western expansion. This same aggression was on display during the American Civil War. Both the North and South were fighting for their version of democracy in the Civil War. Lincoln optimized this in his closing line of the Gettysburg Address, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Several battles for both sides added to the attrition efforts and almost achieved a decisive victory but fell short. America felt the effects of battles on the home front and the political twisting that came with a war threatening our own land and well-being at home in a manner that wouldn’t be felt again for another 136 years. Even in the labels placed by the opposing sides, The "War of Northern Aggression" and “The "War of Southern Aggression", conversely, the ideal of aggression throughout the war was evident. The American Civil War revolved around the idea of saving the democracy through a decisive battle and political victory that would attrite the other side into submission; these ideals are rooted in an aggressive military tradition.