Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861
I read this address three times to make sure I was not only understanding what Lincoln was saying, but also reading between the lines, considering the audience, and comparing it to his second inaugural address.
Lincoln was a great orator and given his background, he knew how to appeal to the masses. McPherson (p. 318) refers to Lincoln's metaphors as "homely, but effective," indicating his ability to reach the common American. I think this speech (as discussed in class) was intended for those who were undecided about his presidency and the question of war and slavery. Moreover, this address can be seen as perhaps reaching those undecided folks (Southern Unionists), although this was not apparent to me at first.
This first address opens in a humble, conciliatory manner - not unlike Lincoln. He then gets right to the point and says he will discuss what is foremeost in the American mind, which to me shows he did not take his audience for granted. That is, he begins with the "Apprehension...among the people of the Southern states..." who beleive their property, peace, and personal security are "endangered." No fool, Lincoln knew that he should speak to them and appease them so as to resolve this crisis without war. To wit, he wrote that he had no intention to end slavery where it already existed, which he repeated in the first page of his speech. Yet he also says he will be fair in protecting all sections of the U.S., not just the South. Next, he provides that no fugitives will be freed, but will be returned to his/her "master" (my word, not his). He doesn't say he supports slavery explicitly, he simply believed he was following the Constitution. If he had not, the South would have accused him of being a hypocrite and had seen more reason to secede as they did.
Yet, I also noted that Lincoln would not tolerate secession. He cites "perpetuity" in the law as the intention of the framers. That is, that they made no provision for the self-destruction of our government, and as such, the states could not "destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself" (A-8). He made it clear that the Union was perpetual and the "some action" implies war brought on by the Confederacy's actions. The President cites the law and several historic events to prove his point here.
His next statement shows a balancing act - he was not going to "menace" or warn anyone, but was making sure they knew the boundary - the Union could and would "constitutionally defend and maintain itself" as he was charged to do by his office and by law with "no bloodshed or violence," if possible. In other words, he wasn't making a move unless forced to do so. This address was the month before the attack on Fort Sumter and Lincoln probably knew something of this sort would happen. His only promise was a lawful and honest one: that he would not make a move and maintain peace wherever possible while faithfully executing his duties to the nation.
By page A-9 he acknowledges that there are people (Rebels) seeking to "destroy the Union" and I made note that he would not address a word to them. I thought this was powerful because it shows that he will not tolerate or recognize secessionists who are trying to dissolve the Union, much like a foreign body invading its' host. This also establishes that "Honest Abe" is fair, but firm - he is the Commander-In-Chief.
The section following the aforementioned is a direct speech to the Unionists and those undecided border states. He warns that in the best interests of all, one side must give in to the other for the good of the nation and that the Constitution is vague on questions regarding states rights over national rights. However, he is clear that secession amounts to anarchy. Even though Lincoln respects the Supreme Court, he writes that people cannot completely turn it all over to the Court, especially making everything a political matter or they risk not being "their own masters." In other words, this is a government "for the people, by the people." I liked his husband/wife metaphor and understood it better this time. He meant that we could go to war, but we couldn't keep fighting, especially because the question would resurface given our geographic location North to South.
Of course, I expected he would invoke God in his speech, though he saved it for the end on purpose, to be sure. Though each side believes his cause to be right, Lincoln is smart to let Americans know that whichever side wins, it will be because they are wise to provide no great power to any one administration. By saying/writing this, he is giving confidence to and trying to calm the public. The end of the speech is another direct appeal for peace, reflection and no hasty action. Again he appeals to Southern Unionists; "We are not enemies, but friends" he writes, and "Though passion may have strained it, it must not break the bonds of affection." He makes a complete circle around this inaugural speech which closes with the hope of avoiding war. Sadly, this was not to be.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
As a little girl, I always loved Lincoln's style of speaking and writing, even if I had a vague idea of his meaning. Funny enough, I was about ten when I was "apprehended" drawing a cartoon of Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth in crayon - on my bedroon wall, no less (true story). I write this silly side note because I am imagining what it would be like for orphan children and widows of that time when they were listening to or reading his Gettysberg Address. What a sad, somber occasion! Delivered on November 19, 1863, this is one of his most famous speeches of all time. Lincoln spoke these words at the dedication of the National Military Cemetery, where so many lives were lost.
It is fitting that it was short, although emotional. His first paragraph reminds us why we are a nation ("all men are created equal"), referring to the war as a "test" of whether our government could endure. I thought he was humble, sincere, and proper in that he says it was the soldier's blood which hallows the ground dedicated, not our doing in the dedication itself or any speech. It's ironic that he thought the world would not remember what was said there, but I understood that he wanted the attention on the purpose of the war itself, that "these dead shall not have died in vain." In other words, there is a sad, expensive lesson to be learned and not forgotten and that we owe those soldiers by remembering what happened on that field. Lincoln's last sentence illustrates that the Union should never "die," but that it was now a new Union which lived, though at a steep expense.
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865
Lincoln's second address is markedly different, both in tone and duration, from the first. This address is around sixteen months after the Gettysburg Address and, obviously, four years after his first and after secession. This time he begins with "Fellow Countrymen," rather than "Fellow Citizens," which to me is more cohesive or national.
His tone is more hopeful, though guarded. Little did he know his life would end shortly thereafter, but he knew it could only be a matter of time at this point before the Confederates fully surrendered. With this in mind, he writes that the South made war, while the Union accepted war, rather than letting "it perish." He makes sure to state that slaves were concentrated in the South, acknowledges once again that such an institution holds a "peculiar and powerful interest," and finally affirms that slavery was the cause of the war. Even so, Lincoln repeats what everyone knew; the South wanted to keep slavery, while the North sought not to abolish it, but keep it from spreading. This was delivered a few years after The Emancipation Proclamation, so it makes sense when he writes that the war continued even though the "cause" of the war ceased to exsist. To his credit, he thinks that it's strange to wage war simply to "ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces" in a direct reference to slavery.
What he wrote next was a more forceful condemnation than most of his styled speeches and surprised me more than the beginning of his address. He basically says that the war is our own fault, even if neither side anticipated its' duration or severity. Lincoln quotes Scripture here to call the cause (slavery) an "offence" which we must pay for dearly. His reprimand and invocation of God's wrath is appropriate given the times, but more importantly, he points out neither side really "won." The war was, in his view, the price the nation paid for slavery.
The tone in this speech, as I mentioned, is so different from the first. The duration and closing is also different, but the same in a way. His last paragraph ends in the hope that we can reconcile as a nation and "bind up the nation's wounds." The wounds he mentions are certainly physical, spiritual, and psychological and reminds of a reconstruction which will necessarily take place. Though modern-day citizens and historians malign him at times for not taking a hard-line, abolitionist stance against slavery, I think Lincoln did what he could (indeed more than others) and considered, in part, what would happen to war widows, children, and former slaves. He seems to be the pacifist thrust into a war that history will never (should never) forget.
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