Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Dear Readers--

This is my second to last Honors 240 blog post! Enjoy!

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

Lincoln’s second inaugural address is a beautiful piece of prose. Just as his speech was brief, this post will be brief. In fact this post will be much briefer than his address. Still, I want to put down a few thoughts. First of all, I am amazed by the charity—the genuine love—that Lincoln expresses in his speech. I’m sure it took a lot of courage to do this, because there was obviously a lot of hatred for “the rebels” of the Confederacy within the citizenry of the union. But though his words would not likely bring him more popularity or approval, Lincoln said them anyway because they needed to be said. Furthermore, I am amazed by the courage it must have required for Lincoln to so plainly claim that the blame of the war fell not only on the faults of the south, but the faults of the north as well. Any other man might have pointed fingers, yet Lincoln did not. Lastly, I was inspired by Lincoln’s fervent desire, not just to win the war, but to heal the nation and seal up the rift that had torn the North and the South apart and his humble appeal to God to facilitate that healing. He was a remarkable man and this was a remarkable speech.

--Christian Jacob Frandsen