Abraham Lincoln and American Political ReligionLincoln's major public speeches are examined in this analysis of his attempt to create a political religion through his language of intense religious feeling. |
Contents
Reverence for the Laws | 23 |
Equality and Justice | 41 |
The Gettysburg Address and Sacred Politics | 66 |
The Second Inaugural | 91 |
Conclusion Transcending Politics | 112 |
Notes | 123 |
130 | |
133 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abington School District Abraham Lincoln actions Almighty American Political argues argument assertion audience believe cause Charnwood Civil Civil War claim to know consent considered Constitution Court created equal danger dead dedicated democracy deny depends Edmund Wilson exist fathers Founders freedom freedom of religion Gettysburg Address God's purposes Hence Herndon human Ibid injustice interpretation Jefferson judge justice laws liberty Lincoln says Lincoln's religion Lincoln's speech Lincoln's thought long endure Lyceum Speech meaning men's men's rights ment merely moral principle nation so conceived negro North offences old reformers opposition to slavery paragraph passions past Pericles political institutions political religion popular morality possible prayers present problem proposition public opinion punishment question reason recognized religious reveals reverence Revolution Richard Hofstadter Second Inaugural seeks seems seen self-evident truth sense separation of church simply slave South spiritual needs statesman temperance movement Thurlow Weed tion transcend true understanding Union universal unjust Wilson words York
Popular passages
Page 13 - No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.
Page 3 - And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God...
Page 11 - 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...
Page 5 - We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom to worship as one chooses. We make room for as wide a variety of beliefs and creeds as the spiritual needs of man deem necessary. We sponsor an attitude on the part of government that shows no partiality to any one group and that lets each flourish according to the zeal of its adherents and the appeal of its dogma.
Page 4 - And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.