Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

As president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in his second inauguration speech, surprises his audience by not giving a long, protracted harangue on politics and states’ rights, instead, he gives a concise lecture on the evilness of slavery and not charging the south with the entire cause of the war. And through juxtaposition, biblical allusion, and classical appeals, Lincoln articulates his purposes: to urge public amnesty for the south and to reunite the Unites States under one flag. Lincoln uses his credibility as president and employs that of the bible to make his argument believable and acceptable. In addition, he appeals to the guilt and obloquy felt about the war by the American people, both north and south. In order to do this, Lincoln calls to action those responsible: everyone, even himself; he wants the southerners to willfully renounce slavery because it is wrong according to the will of God saying: “It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces” and with this, he appeals to the consciences of the former southern slave owners, and to show them that banning slavery was right. (44-47). Furthermore, as stated earlier, he uses his position as president to convince the people to strive for this change, but this might also cause a rift between himself and the southerners. In order to remedy this, he references the bible which both the northerners and
Furthermore, he uses a few statistics in order to lend himself said credibility. Finally, he uses juxtaposition to reunite the union by comparing the north and the south in regards to religion and political