Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second InauguralAs the day for Lincoln's second inauguration drew near, Americans wondered what their sixteenth president would say about the Civil War. Would Lincoln guide the nation toward "Reconstruction"? What about the slaves? They had been emancipated, but what about the matter of suffrage? When Lincoln finally stood before his fellow countrymen on March 4, 1865, and had only 703 words to share, the American public was stunned. The President had not offered the North a victory speech, nor did he excoriate the South for the sin of slavery. Instead, he called the whole country guilty of the sin and pleaded for reconciliation and unity. In this compelling account, noted historian Ronald C. White Jr. shows how Lincoln's speech was initially greeted with confusion and hostility by many in the Union; commended by the legions of African Americans in attendance, abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass among them; and ultimately appropriated by his assassin John Wilkes Booth forty-one days later. Filled with all the facts and factors surrounding the Second Inaugural, "Lincoln's Greatest Speech" is both an important historical document and a thoughtful analysis of Lincoln's moral and rhetorical genius. |
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Page 113
... asked questions about both human actions and God's actions . Lincoln was asking how it was possible for one side to ask God's aid against the other side . He was not only asking a question , but inveighing against a tribal God who would ...
... asked questions about both human actions and God's actions . Lincoln was asking how it was possible for one side to ask God's aid against the other side . He was not only asking a question , but inveighing against a tribal God who would ...
Page 117
... asked them to come back the next day . When they did so , one of the women pleaded with Lincoln that " her husband was a religious man . " Lincoln objected : " In my opinion , the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their ...
... asked them to come back the next day . When they did so , one of the women pleaded with Lincoln that " her husband was a religious man . " Lincoln objected : " In my opinion , the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their ...
Page 170
... asked with more and more fre- quency how he would treat those in the South . Many of those who asked were quick to answer their own question . Here , at the beginning of his final paragraph , he began to an- swer the question : " With ...
... asked with more and more fre- quency how he would treat those in the South . Many of those who asked were quick to answer their own question . Here , at the beginning of his final paragraph , he began to an- swer the question : " With ...
Contents
Inauguration Day | 21 |
At this second appearing | 43 |
And the war came | 60 |
Copyright | |
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abolitionists Abraham Lincoln American Bible Society asked audience battle became believe Capitol century charity Charles Charles Hodge Chicago Christian Civil coln coln's Confederate Constitution crowd Daily death dissole divine dome dress editor emancipation Emancipation Proclamation final paragraph Fort Pillow four Frederick Douglass Gettysburg Gettysburg Address God's gural Gurley Herndon Hodge Ibid Illinois Inau inauguration day Jackson James jeremiad John judgment knew language letter Lincoln began Lincoln's First Inaugural Lincoln's Second Inaugural Lincoln's words malice March ment nation newspapers Noah Brooks North offence offered party Phineas political prayer Presbyterian Presbyterian Church president presidential Princeton printed purpose re-elected reported Republican rhetoric School Presbyterian Second Inau Second Inaugural Address Seldon Connor Senate sentence sermon Seward slavery slaves South Southern speak speech Springfield Stowe Testament theological third paragraph thousand tion troops University Press Washington White House Whitman William wrote York Avenue York Herald