Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Questions

Maeve Callewaert

February 1^st, 2013

G

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

Section A

3. What do you learn from Lincoln’s address about his attitude towards the South, the apparent losers in the conflict? What do you learn from Lincoln’s address about his attitude towards the North, the apparent winners in the conflict?

Lincoln believes that the South, though the obvious losers of the war, should not be blamed for starting it. He didn’t want to make accusations in order to avoid upsetting the South. Instead, he declared that, “all dreaded it- all sought to avert it.” He says that both the North and the South did not want the war to occur and that neither party expected the “magnitude, or the duration” of the war. Both were equally to blame. He hoped that by preventing critique on either part, restoration would occur at a quicker pace.

Section C

1. What can you discern about Lincoln’s character on the basis of what he wrote?

I noticed that Lincoln was clever in his choice of words when addressing the war and the South, and that instead of blaming the South and charging them with reparations and demands, he declared that the war was inevitable. “Both parties deprecated war…” He wisely chose not to say which side was to blame. He let the other region come to its own conclusions. “…But one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” Also, instead of placing the blame completely on one side, he shows weaknesses in both of the sides’ decisions.

Section D

2. Could a president today use the same religious rhetoric that Lincoln did to explain national policy? Was Lincoln wrong to do so?

Today, I don’t think anyone would be able to refer to religion and get away with it. Religion is such a tough subject these days because everyone feels differently about it, and discussing one religion and showing preference makes other people angry. When it comes down to it, either you discuss religion broadly as a subject, not excluding any type or making another seem superior, or you don’t mention it at all. In Lincoln’s speech, he referred to God and prayer multiple times. “…So still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’” I don’t think that he was necessarily wrong to do this, because it serves somewhat as an apology and an explanation rather than a formal speech. He uses God as a similarity between them, highlighting that the North and the South are really very comparable. “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God…” Maybe he could have shown some more religious variety, rather than assuming they all worship the same God, but he got his point across to the South, regardless of the religion he applied to the speech.