Abraham Lincoln once gave a speech so riveting that any member of the press present neglected to record the speech, as they were so transfixed by his message. This is referred to as “Lincoln’s lost speech” because there are no known recordings of it. It is widely considered by historians to be a brutal condemnation of slavery. This speech is in direct contrast with his second inaugural address. In his lost speech, he shocked his listeners almost into submission by delivering such a powerful message about the evils of slavery; but in his inaugural address, he is all for reconciliation with the very organization which sponsored slavery in the first place. Lincoln’s diction and parallel structure indicate that he wanted the South to not feel offended, …show more content…
He states “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it”. Lincoln in no way needed to do this. He very well could have delivered a forty minute victory speech, but instead uses phrases like these to place the South on equal footing with the North, in an attempt to get the Northerners to understand the Southerners. He also used parallel structure when he stated “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh”. He is using this parallel structure to bring the North down to the South, in that both parties must share the burden of the war. He is attempting to establish common ground between Northerners and Southerners by talking about whose burden the horrible war is. He is claiming that it is both sides—reinforcing the belief that America is still one community. This is also heavily indicated by his purposefully vague or objective …show more content…
Everybody in the north and most people in the south knew exactly who caused the civil war. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence Lincoln had at his disposal, he refused to aggressively accuse the south of being greedy racist slavers. The civil war had almost ended, there was absolutely no reason for him to not call himself the winner. When he states, “encouraging to all” or “Neither party” or “Neither anticipated” or “Each Looked” or “Both read” he is attempting to show all the similarities between the two different groups of people. Although he could have gloated and insulted the losers, he instead tried to become their friends. This ties back to his original purpose. Abraham Lincoln would have given a very different speech had the south have nothing to offer the north. The North had more power at this time, but only because of the amazing agricultural estates of the South. His diction is an attempt to remain objective, in the hopes that others will become objective as well, and therefore, more willing to fix the broken bond between the
In Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address he asserts many points on rhetorical strategies while stating his hopes and admirations for what will come after the Civil War. The purpose of Lincoln’s speech was to unify the nation and bring peace to the states. The tone of this speech emphasizes unity for all. Lincoln begins with parallelism to help get his point across.
In Lincoln’s First inaugural Address he attacks this immense problem of slavery. He begins with a promise that states that although he is a republican
He simply states that “the war came”, and not who brought it among the country. Therefore, Lincoln chooses not to focus on who is to blame, but rather declare the war as unwanted and equally devastating for both parties. Soon after, Lincoln starts to incorporate religious references into his address. The audience is reminded of their shared religion, with the statement that: “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other” (line 42-44). This unifying note provides proof that even though the North and South seemed to be greatly divided, they both pray and worship the same God.
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.”
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union (35).’ This letter is very important because it contradicts everything that Lincoln said in his First Inaugural Address just seven months before this was written. In his address he stated that he didn’t have the authority from the constitution to interrupt slavery, but after the letter he was willing to ignore the whole Constitution and emphasize more or less powers in the dictatorship.
The parallel structure underlined what his objectives were for the country. For instance, he says, "to bind up the nation's wounds...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. " Lincoln's main objective was to try to leave the Civil War in the past, so they could build a promising future together as a nation. Another case of allusion was toward the start of the address when Lincoln stated, “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it.” He said “all” referring to both the North and South so they could stop fighting and work together to build a stronger
Lincoln was well educated over current case-law problems pertaining too slave and free states. Over one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court, the Dred Scott decision threatened to bring slavery into the North. Lincoln was stressing the fact that if something wasn’t done, slavery would no doubt trickle out of the South, and into the rest of America. While the Supreme Court was fumbling and backtracking, there was another law that brought slavery closer. The Kansas-Nebraska bill overrode previous legislation and allowed white male residents to vote on whether to permit slavery therein.
The South’s ever-increasing anger toward the North and its abolitionist movement only increased with Lincoln’s election. In his address, he acknowledges the South, saying, “Apprehension seems to exist among the people of
He states that “both parties deprecated war; one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” Although compromises were made between both sides of the nation they were unable to resolve the political issues between the north and the south. The war stemmed from Lincoln’s presidency and the decisions he made with his presidential power. As a result the South felt as though the threat to their institution of slavery was becoming too great. The south felt that in order to preserve their culture of slavery it would have to become its own nation and the only way the north felt they could stop the Confederacy and preserve the union was by retaliating back. Thus, making the Civil War inevitable to
During the Civil War, different groups thought different things about why the war was being fought. The North mostly fought for reunification while the South fought to save slavery. Lincoln, who was President at the time, began the war with one set of beliefs and eventually won the war with another. Lincoln’s focus for the war changed from reunification to the abolition of slavery.
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.
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.”
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.
Lincoln urges the people to “strive on to finish the work we are in,” “to bind up the nation's wounds,” he is trying to get the United Sate Citizens to become one again to unite and be one strong country, showing that even after a huge war that the country can remain strong and unified and that this war will allow for a strong brotherhood in the US. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address is significant because Lincoln offered and objective point of view. Lincoln did not speak of the unloyalty of the South nor did he praise the North. Rather, Lincoln used multiple points to show that the Unification should be the main focus of his speech not that the states should be divided because of
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.