Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1864

1)   What is the author arguing

Mr. Lincoln was arguing that, rather than pondering over the cause of the war, that the country must concentrate on setting aside sectional differences, and concentrate on healing the wounds of the war, and strive for a just and lasting peace.

2)   How does the author appeal to logos (logic), pathos (emotional quality), and ethos (the writer’s perceived character) with their argument?

Mr. Lincoln states that “there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first” inaugural. Robust press coverage of the war left little need to spend much time chronicling the past. The thing to do was to finish the war so as to commence the healing and rebuilding that would need to follow in it’s wake.

Appealing to the emotions of his listeners, Mr. Lincoln spoke of “insurgent agents” seeking to undermine the union. He goes further when he says that, if necessary, they must carry on the conflict “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword”. In the closing paragraph of the address, he refers to “him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphans”.

Much of the address is given over to references of religious matters. He understood his audience enough to know that appealing to their religious convictions concerning “God’s will” would have a powerful affect. His appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation (“With malice towards none, and charity for all”) seems to me to reflect his gentleness and deep understanding of human nature.

3)    What is the historical significance/relevance of this document?

Mr. Lincoln had just won a rancorous election against George McClellan, a popular General whom he had removed in the midst of the war, who was running on a ‘peace platform’, calling for a cessation of hostilities. Many saw the war as a bloody stalemate until Atlanta, Georgia had fallen to Union troops after a prolonged siege. That victory probably had a great deal to do with Mr. Lincoln’s landslide (212 electoral votes; 55% of the popular vote) victory in the 1864 election. Mr. Lincoln considered this win a mandate for his strategy to finish the war as soon as possible, and get on to reconstruction.

4).   Do you find the author’s argument convincing? Why or why not?

I found Mr. Lincoln’s argument very convincing. He knew he must win the war as quickly as possible. The entire nation was weary after nearly 4 years of one of history’s (certainly the United States’) bloodiest conflicts. He also understood that if we could not put resentment, recrimination, and vengeance aside, there was little chance of a successful reconciliation between North and South.

The Right to Fight: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

Frederick Douglass, the fiery black Abolitionist, petitioned President Lincoln to allow black men to take up arms in the cause of the Union. For several reasons, not the least being the fear of a white racist backlash, Mr. Lincoln resisted taking this course until mounting casualties, and the realization that slave labor was one of the mainstays of the South’s war effort, caused him to assent to actively recruiting black men for army service in 1863. Free blacks considered serving in combat as a way to raise black prestige and pride. They also hoped that it might act to dispel racist attitudes among whites. Despite stumbling blocks such as pay inequity and resistance to using ‘colored’ troops for anything other than manual labor, they ultimately proved their bravery in combat. James Henry Gooding, a young black recruit observed, “When a regiment of white men gave us three cheers…it shows that we did our duty as men should.” After the war, many black veterans became active in the struggle for equal rights. Said black veteran Sgt. Henry Maxwell, “We want two more boxes besides the cartridge box---the ballot and the jury box.” Unfortunately, James Gooding, the eager young recruit who took such pride from the cheers of white soldiers, did not survive to take part in the struggle for equal treatment. He died on July 19, 1864 at Andersonville, the notorious Confederate military prison.

1)      How do you think post Civil War black history might have been different had blacks been denied the ‘right to fight’?

2)      Why do you think black troops were only permitted to serve under white officers?