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Contributor: Nathan Murphy. Lesson ID: 13868
Elected presidents traditionally give inauguration speeches when accepting office. In 1865, however, the U.S. was embroiled in the Civil War, leading Lincoln to give a very different sort of speech.
In 1985, the Cold War was coming to an end, and the United States was not heavily involved in other parts of the world.
Ronald Reagan was re-elected during this period of relative peace and gave a 20-minute-long Second Inaugural Address.
In 1865, the United States was being torn apart by the Civil War. When Abraham Lincoln was re-elected, he gave a Second Inaugural Address that was only five minutes long!
Background
Before you can analyze this speech, you need to understand what was going on around the country.
Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865. This is what the Civil War had done to the United States.
As Lincoln gave his speech, only the orange pockets shown above were still controlled by the Confederacy.
On a separate sheet of paper, jot down what you think Lincoln spoke about in his speech.
With the Union poised to end the Civil War by the end of the year, people expected Lincoln to address how the country would put itself back together.
This was the major question everyone had as Lincoln stood to speak.
Lincoln's Speech
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, courtesy of the National Park Service, is only a few hundred words.
The excerpts below have been divided to showcase the purpose and theme as well as the literary device Lincoln uses. You may choose to listen to each as you read along.
Continue on to the Got It? section to explain what you think the purpose and theme are and revisit the idea of biblical allusion.
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