Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Essay

On March 4, 1865, Lincoln presented himself to the public to deliver his speech; days before the Civil War came to the end. Lincoln’s anguish is displayed as he summarized the events that led to the Civil War. Trust was destroyed between the North and South and Lincoln was left with a nation in turmoil fighting over slavery. He reminded the people that they were one nation, not two independent nations warring against each other. He did not want to throw accusations to one side and chose to show the common qualities each side had in each time period. In doing this, he forced the people to widen their mind and consider the other side’s perspective. He did not want the sides to continue fighting and wanted to create a common ground and impacted
the nation with his laconic speech. Lincoln expressed his message using different methods, but how?

In Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865), Lincoln strategically constructed the speech in implementing biblical references, and applying alliteration in order to provide closure for the opposing sides and unify the damaged nation.
. He did not want to throw accusations to one side and chose to show the common qualities each side had in each time period. In doing this, he forces the people to widen their mind and consider the other side’s perspective. He did not want the sides to continue fighting and wanted to create a common ground. Both sides suffered loss and in reality the nation suffered a great loss. Trust was broken and Lincoln wanted the sides to mourn together rather than apart. His emotions in the speech reflected the nation’s emotions.
Lincoln depended on the Bible to emphasize his message to the audience because of people’s relationship to God.
Lincoln did not blame the North and South for the war and instead mention God’s impact in their choices. Lincoln quoted, “Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh (Line 40, Lincoln)!” The quote was used to explain God’s relevance in the war and provide a reason to why God chose to have certain decisions occur. God could not leave the nation unpunished for their mistake in Lincoln’s explanation. Lincoln used quotes from the Bible to provide an understanding between both sides because many were connected to religion. Many relied on God for guidance, and Lincoln used this to his advantage. Religion impacted many lives. The war changed many people’s mentality and it was difficult for people from each side to relate to each other, but with the references from the Bible, both sides confided in each other. Lincoln did not favor one side over the other as shown when he provides references that both sides can relate
to.
Through the usage of alliteration, Lincoln attracted the public’s attention to specific passages in the speech to clarify his message. In the second paragraph, he discusses the events prior to the Civil War to reveal how the war began. As Lincoln reflects on the events that led to the Civil War, the public senses a repetition of sound, alliteration. The hypnotizing repetition of the “d” sound have another common quality; their part of speech was verb. The distinct “d” sound emphasizes the sides’ intentions to continue the war, disregarding the consequences. The constant “d” sound reveal the correspondence of each action that led to the war while containing a combination of positive and negative connotation. Lincoln utilizes alliteration to discuss the North and South rather than solely focusing on one side. Due to the alliteration, two opposing sides are required, therefore one side could not be blamed for the entirety of the war. Lincoln intentionally designates each word to be a verb to reveal each sides’ contribution to the far. He does not focus on one side to avoid conflict; he could not afford to have permanent separation between the North and South. Lincoln remains neutral to bring the North and South closer and have people acknowledge their mistakes. Lincoln provides closure for the South and North as he reveals the similarities between the enemies. He feared that there would be still be a wall between the sides for their opposing views. However, he senses there was an understanding between the sides because of the damage the nation dealt with. The people understood they were one nation instead of two nations after Lincoln’s speech. In the Second Inaugural Address (1865), Abraham Lincoln wrote in his speech in chronological order, reference the Bible, and used alliteration in order to provide unification between the opposing sides.