Why Is Lincoln's Inaugural Address A Turning Point

The morning of March 4, 1861, was a turning point for America. Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States. On that day, Lincoln was called to present his inaugural address. His speech was an important one because he would be verbalizing not only as the first president but additionally as the Commander-In-Chief of a nation in crisis. For guidance and inspiration while composing his inaugural address, Lincoln turned to historical documents. All of them were concerned with states' rights.
In his first inaugural, President Lincoln does not have an issue with verbalizing directly to the South, stating that he only wants to talk about the immense issue that he know everyone cares about, succession. President Lincoln lets the know he
a strong Republican. Perpetuating on, President Lincoln expressed the signing of the Constitution is a “contract.” In other words, unless all states opt to dissolve the contract, no state can separate themselves from the Union. Throughout the address, Lincoln states the North is not going to allow the South to transgress with succeeding. “I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”-Lincoln. By saying this at the end of his first address, President Lincoln is hoping a compromise can be reached that we are all one! North and south we are equivalent, and we must find a way to make this work. Soon after the delivery of his first inaugural address the Civil War had begun, throwing Abraham Lincoln into a nation full of catastrophe.
Throughout the war, President Lincoln had a difficult time looking for generals to lead his armies. In January 1863, two years after the war started, President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation after the Battle of Antietam. The Emancipation Proclamation, was the legal document that allowed the president to seize the property of those in rebellion against the State. This did not apply to the free slaves across the south. From the Northern perspective, it changed the whole war, a fight to end slavery and preserve the Union. With the end of the war in sight, Lincoln focused more on achieving a compromise between the North and South. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address was short compared to his first but showed the true side of the Civil War. Lincoln took a humbled stand while stating the Administration's view of the war and the future of the American citizen. He desired peace in lieu of the tragedies spread across our nation. President Lincoln could have bragged to the South as a victorious Commander in Chief, but instead he reflects on the shared suffering of both North and South and calls on all Americans to put their vengeful and resentment feelings away in order to converge as one. Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of our United States did one hell of a job leading the nation, and preserving the Union.