On March 4. 1865, Abraham Lincoln gave his inaugural speech after being re-elected into presidential office for the second term. The speech is widely renowned as Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, whose main message entailed unifying the country after the devastating socio-political divisions that had orchestrated the rise of the Civil War, which led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and immense property destruction in America (Lincoln, 1865). However, the most interesting part about the speech is that it was not essentially the typical triumphant speech that presidents-elect usually make as they prepare to be sworn in as President since Lincoln deployed a rather sad tone when addressing the people on the fateful inauguration day (Schaub, 2021). Hence, Lincoln’s second inaugural speech is an illustration of the unification struggles experienced in American society during the early and middle 1860s, which is evident by the extensive deployment of a sad tone and the theme of injustice which are key literary elements used in illustrating the devastating impacts of disunity and selfishness in America.
Therefore, this paper primarily aims to discuss Lincoln’s use of a sad intonation that is complemented by the deployment of the theme of injustice in calling upon the Americans to set aside their ethnic differences in building a country that had suffered devastating losses in the Civil War. Indeed, Levin (2021) notes that Lincoln’s second inaugural speech primarily deploys a sad tone throughout the text, a significant literary element deployed by the President to remind the Americans of how disunity can readily cause a country to plunge into oblivion if left unaddressed. Lincoln repeatedly cautioned the Americans against allowing jubilation for his second presidential re-election to make them forget the devastating events that unfolded in the country following the eruption of the Civil War that heavily tarnished his first term as the 16th US president.
Moreover, the theme of injustice is heavily witnessed throughout the speech as Lincoln aimed to remind the American community of the role played by the need for slaves in igniting the Civil War (Ruderman, 2022). In the speech, Lincoln mentioned that each of the primarily conflicting parties, the Southern and the Northern political leaders, were not essentially prepared for the devastating impacts that would result from the struggle towards promoting or abolishing slavery, with each front taking a contrasting stand on the matter evidenced in the quote,” On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it ~ all sought to avert” Lincoln, A. (1865). The southern political leaders typically insisted that slavery should also be enforced in the western lands, which violated the human rights of minority ethnic groups such as the blacks, prompting fierce resistance from the southern political front. Eventually, none of the two fronts essentially won since the conflict typically plunged America into a four-year-long war, as a demonstration of the deployment of the element of injustice literary element in the speech.
Therefore, Lincoln’s second inaugural speech is an illustration of the immense disunity evident in American society in the early and middle 1860s, which is heavily evident by the sad tone and the constant references to the injustices that had become extensively prevalent in the country, particularly towards America’s minority ethnic groups (Ruderman, 2022). By constantly reminding the people about the devastating impacts of the Civil War and its causes, Lincoln aimed to ensure that the American community remained vigilant of the devastating consequences of selfishness, greed, and disunity. Hence, Lincoln’s second inaugural speech remains a significant part of America’s history since it signified the official beginning of the reconstruction era, where Americans united to rebuild the nation in the aftermath of the infamous Civil War.
References
Levin, J. E. (2021). Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Simon and Schuster.
Lincoln, A. (1865) Second inaugural address of the late President Lincoln. James Miller, New York. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2020770559/.
Ruderman, R. S. (2022). “A Sacred Effort”: Lincoln’s Second Inaugural and the Problem of Justice. American Journal of Political Science.
Schaub, D. (2021). His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation. St. Martin’s Press.
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