President Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” was delivered on the stage to a crowd of approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people. The audience contained the general population and government officials involved in the country’s military, political, and bureaucratic aspects. In addition, the speakers discussed the well-being and future of slaves; hence people of unfortunate fate were also a part of the intentional addressees. Lincoln’s intent to address representatives of these social layers can be traced from the contents of the speech as there was no gloating or joy. However, it contained some of Lincoln’s most profound insights on the war’s causes and significance. He argued that the scourge of war was best seen as divine punishment for the sin of slavery, which all Americans, North and South, were engaged in (Abraham). US citizens share a common responsibility for the war’s beginning and continuation in his perspective. While presiding over the country’s worst crisis, President Abraham Lincoln talked of mutual forgiveness, North and South, emphasizing that a nation’s true mettle resides in its ability for mercy.
On the last moments of his address, he has spoken immortal words of reconciliation and healing that are etched in the walls of the nation’s capital’s Lincoln Memorial. He said, “With malice toward none with charity for… 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…” (Abraham). The speech was unexpected by Northerners due to the absence of retribution and punishment themes desired by many. Instead, Lincoln proposed forgiveness and mutual reconciliation — a peaceful ending of the unnecessary bloodshed between the people of common history. This aspect of the speech can be seen as addressed to both Northerners and Southerners. Despite the latter’s opposition towards his presidency, he considered them inseparable from the American future.
Work Cited
Abraham, Lincoln. “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Web.