Second Inaugural Address and Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most important person in American History. Certainly a case could be made for him being the greatest president of all time. Lincoln came into the presidency in a volatile situation no other president had or has since, had equal, taken office. When Lincoln took over the presidency souther stats immediately began to secede from the Union at an alarming rate. He had not even passed a law yet and already he was dealing with things no other president has ever even had to worry about. Could this man declare war on his own country? Should he? Would the north or south win? After four long hard years the end was in sight as Lincoln took office for his second term as president. The inaugural address that Lincoln gave is of great importance because Lincoln was assassinated just a month after this speech. This speech left historians with the question of what if Lincoln had not been assassinated? Would he have done things different then the man who came after him? This address was also important as people had no idea what to do with this broken nation and Lincoln's address provided a small sort of blueprint as to what they should do. In his own words Lincoln wanted " With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." (Lincoln). This short address laid out Lincoln's basic plan for reconstruction, the period immediately after the civil war. His plan would be essential for the coming months. The second speech this blog is about would be the Gettysburg Address, one of the great American speeches. The Gettysburg address was a speech given to soldiers and townspeople following the carnage of the battle of Gettysburg. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war. What Lincoln said in his short speech restored courage and resolve to a wavering nation wondering if millions of dead sons and brothers and fathers was worth being a whole country. A nation in a time of need needs it's leader to provide words of encouragement such as "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this." (Lincoln). This paragraph instills a great sense of the need to help. This speech helped believe that yes they could win the war, and it also really made the war not just about preserving the Union but also about slavery. Such a distinction was vitally important then and now. In his second inaugural address Lincoln said " One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war." (Lincoln). This statement clearly proved that the civil war became something more than jut reserving the union it became a liberation.

"The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." NetINS Showcase. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .

"Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .