ABRAHAM LINCOLN
S E C O N D I N A U G U R A L A D D R E S S
Susana Fuentes
[email protected]
1865
Second Inaugural Address
Fellow Countrymen
At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first.
Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during
which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention,
and engrosses (*) the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly
depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the
future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured (*). (1)
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil-war. All dreaded it -- all
sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war,
insurgent (*) agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war -- seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation.
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. And the war came.
One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern half part of it.
These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen,
perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend (*) the Union, even by war; while the government
claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the
duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself
should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the
same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. (2)
(1) In this first paragraph, Lincoln claims that this speech will be simple and short
(*) engrosses: holds the complete attention of
(*) ventured: say or guess something even though you are not sure (2) Lincoln argues that the Civil War was caused by the South’s desire to strengthen and expand
(*) insurgent: rebellious the institution of slavery
(*) deprecated: expressed disapproval (*) rend: tear apart
1865
Second Inaugural Address
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
(3); but let us judge not that we be not judged. (4) The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The
Almighty has His own purposes. "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!“ (5)
If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having
continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due
to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God
always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God
wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's (*) two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil (*) shall be sunk, and until
every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it
must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether“ (6)
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we
are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. (7)
A. Lincoln - April 10, 1865 (delivered on 4 March 1865)
(3) An allusion to the Fall of Man from the book of Genesis
(*) bond-man: slave
(4) And (5) are words from Jesus from Matthew
(*) unrequited toil: unpaid work
(6) A quote from Psalm 19.9 in the King James Bible
(7) Lincoln suggests that the War might be God’s punishment for allowing slavery for so long
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
TOPICS
God and Providence
• How many times is God (Lord, He, Him, Almighty) mentioned?
• No other President before had quoted the Bible in their inaugural address.
Slavery
Slavery is mentioned in the speech as the cause for this bloody war. Lincoln explains that the
central government was trying to avoid the spread of it in new states rather than the complete
eradication of the institution.
Reconciliation
Main Ideas
This second speech is shorter and more solemn than the First Inaugural speech. There is no
hatred or triumph over the losing side, but reconciliation. There is no casting blame on the
South but he thought the war could be the price or punishment for slavery, as some form of
divine retribution.
Yo u r G r e a t S u b t i t l e H e r e
Aftermath
Reconstruction
• How would the South territories and its people (slave and
free) be dealt with?
• Although Lincoln encouraged reconciliation and the
constitutional limits of the President, Congress and States,
other Republicans thought the South should be
reconstructed in a fundamental way.
Segregation
This system was developed in the South after Reconstruction
and it wasn’t challenged until the 1950s and 1960s.
Black codes -> Jim Crow Laws -> Segregation
T E X T A N A LY S I S
PART 1: CLASSIFICATION AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• What type of text is this? Legal, journalistic, political, documentary, historiographical, literary or historical-circumstancial.
• When and where was it written?
• What is the historical context (brief)? It’s useful to know the mentality of the author and the political, social, economic and cultural factors that have an influence
in that moment in history.
• Who is the author? Analyse their ideology, character or personality. Is it a collective document?
• Who was it addressed to? A person, collective or a country
PART 2: ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT: identify the themes and the message, comment on the style and rhetoric and explain the content and the explicit / implicit
ideas
PART 3: CONCLUSION
Conclusion: Relate all your historical knowledge with the ideas you analysed in the text. What interest the text has and what we can learn about the historical
period, the people involved and the events.
• Cause and Motivation
• Purpose: To inform, to persuade, to criticize, to bring attention to some event, to motivate, etc
• Significance: impact and influence at the time
• Projection: meaning and legacy in the future
• Consequence
PART 4: PERSONAL OPINION
Personal Opinion: Evaluate the authenticity, honesty and objectivity of the text / author. Or maybe subjectivity? Criticise the ideas in the text. In the case of
controversial texts, you can agree or disagree with the ideas, explaining why.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
The Lincoln Memorial Turns 100 in 2022!
May 30, 2022, marks the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. Honoring the 16th president
of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, the memorial features a
statue of the seated Lincoln; engravings of the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address, two of his
greatest speeches; and murals with allegorical depictions of his greatest accomplishments as president - the
reunification of the United States following the Civil War and the emancipation of more than four million enslaved
persons.
LINKS
- CRASH COURSE BLACK AMERICAN HISTORY:
- The rise of cotton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83eJfEFFZ74&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNYJO8JWpXO2JP0ezgxsrJJ&index=14
- The Dred Scott Decision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VffLWl8asY&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNYJO8JWpXO2JP0ezgxsrJJ&index=17
- Black Americans in the Civil War:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NgdnsjPFNE&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNYJO8JWpXO2JP0ezgxsrJJ&index=19
- Black Codes: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/black-codes-of-mississippi/
