Values in Lincoln’s and Obama’s Speeches Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address" and Obama's "A More Perfect Union" are two speeches that attempted to express and impose some values to the audience. Although the speeches were delivered on different occasions, they both tried to persuade the audience to acknowledge some values that the speaker viewed as real and to commit themselves in other values that the speaker viewed as right. Furthermore, they both tried to speak to a divided audience. Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” consisted of both basic values and visionary values. He firstly asked the audience to agree with him in some matters before he asked them to choose a specific position. The basic values that he expressed tried to define …show more content…
One of the strongest basic values that Lincoln expressed was that the civil war as a devastating situation for most people. He expressed this by saying, “Both parties deprecated war.” Meanwhile, a more fragile basic value of his speech is the classification of the South as the destructive force and the North as the protective one. He said, “But one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive. And the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” This value splits the public into two factions (Hansen 244) that was defined by Lincoln as “good” and “bad”. After delivering his basic values, Lincoln persuaded the audience to accept a more visionary value. This visionary value discussed a goal by projecting what needs to be done to achieve a favorable situation in the future. After some words that express his “plea to charity” (Solomon 37), Lincoln said, “To do all of which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all.” This concluded his visionary value of positive deeds that will lead the people to a favorable …show more content…
In “A More Perfect Union”, Obama asked the audience to view themselves through the eyes of the others (Terrill 371). Instead of imposing a moral superiority of one side of the audience like Lincoln did or telling the audience to ignore the diversity, Obama asked the people to embrace their differences and acknowledge the others. In referring to the perspective of black people, he said, “A lack of economic opportunity among black men and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family contributed to the erosion of black families...” Meanwhile, to show how some white people might feel, he narrated, “...when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudice, resentment builds over time.” By juxtaposing two different perspectives, Obama tried to ask for agreement that people’s anxiety over racial problems is
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Show More'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.' In the delivery of Lincoln's 'Second Inaugural,' many were inspired by this uplifting and keen speech. It had been a long war, and Lincoln was concerned about the destruction that had taken place. Worn-out from seeing families torn apart and friendships eradicated, he interpreted his inaugural address. It was March of 1865, and the war, he believed, must come to an end before it was too late. The annihilation that had taken place was tragic, and Lincoln brawled for a closure. The 'Second Inaugural' was very influential, formal, and emotional.
Lincoln believed that both sides were at fault for the start of the war, and that there was no need to have a war. Even though neither the south nor the north wanted war. They couldn’t come to an agreement over slavery. The south wanted to keep practicing slavery and to expand it to the west. “One-eighth” of the people that lived in the south were “colored slaves.” The slaves were on the side of the north and that may have been what pushed the south over the edge. From what I read in the speech I get the feeling that the south wanted slaves to do their bidding. They didn’t want to do their own work. Maybe they thought that having slaves gave them power over others, but it doesn’t. No one should be under the control of another person; every person’s life matters. The Civil War caused a wave a great sadness throughout the country. So many
Lincoln’s optimistic tone encourages all Americans to put behind them the Civil War and progress forward as a united nation once more. President Lincoln calls to action all the peoples of America with sentences such as, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in” and “ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace”. The tone that President Lincoln capitalizes on is purposefully optimistic because he hopes to end the war and move past the issue of slavery, among others, which has divided the nation, and he wishes to safeguard the nations reunification. Lincoln’s tone also has hortative sentences such as asking the American people to “strive”. President Lincoln also wishes to rid both sides of any grudges or rancor they may feel towards one another for the war by reflecting that “all sought to avert it” and by articulating, “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it…attained”. And towards the end of his speech, Lincoln calls the nation to be unified “with malice towards none, with charity for all” so that their minds and souls may be cleared of any ill will in order for the nation’s reunification to be permanent and not just superficial. President Lincoln evokes the nation as a whole to a higher degree in hop...
It is widely known that Abraham Lincoln, since his childhood, was never a fan of the south. Additionally, his father was a devout Christian, which played a major role in the development of Lincoln’s moral and ethical beliefs, which manifested themselves more so later on his life and would play a major part in Lincoln’s agenda during the Civil War. The idea that Lincoln may or may not have overstepped his powers during the process of preserving the unity of the United States will be looked at closely in the following paragraphs. This critical analysis will look at various sources with differing views in order to establish a solid conclusion as to why Lincoln was justified in the actions he took as President during the Civil War.
He made concepts simple and communicated with an understanding of the concerns of the citizens. When the war ended and he won reelection, Lincoln did not focus on his achievements.Instead, in his second inaugural speech, Lincoln focused on bringing the country together as expressed in the following excerpt. “With malice toward none, with charity for all, 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
First we will look at the rhetorical devices used in Martin Luther King’s speech and how he effectively uses ethos, pathos, logos, and numerous helpful devices to make a point that segregation needs to end. Next we will look how Lincoln uses certain parallel structure and repetition to also address the need for ending segregation. Although the same messages are being introduced in their speeches, some rhetoric’s are different.
...ers also look up to Lincoln as a hero. His methods are still very relevant today. There is even a memorial statue of him in Washington.”The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "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.... “ (Freidel, Sidney 1)
Abraham Lincoln is often viewed as one of the great heroes of American history, due in no small part to his issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, amidst the chaotic, intense rivalry of the Civil War - the battle between North and South, between freedom and slavery. However, prior to the Civil War, Lincoln had given a speech proclaiming that he, in fact, had never been in favor of equalizing whites and African-Americans. Seemingly contradictorily and inexplicably, he had then elected to free all slaves in United States territories. Yet, there exist several viable explanations for Lincoln’s course of actions. Namely, he had harbored moral arguments, and a general character, against slavery, he had primarily aimed to accomplish the implicit goals of the Republican party on which he sided, and he had established an “official duty”, which could only have been accomplished via the abolition of slavery. Clearly, despite having taken a remarkably contrasting viewpoint from the perception of the public, Lincoln had considered other factors as well, which
Lincoln’s biggest main idea in ‘’The Gettysburg Address’’ is to honor the sacrifices made on the battlefield by treating everyone equal. He states we have to make sure, ‘’...that these dead shall not have died in vain…’’(Lincoln, 1) This helped develop the central idea by being the point of persuasion.
In spite of the fact that Lincoln felt sure that his standards were right, he was profoundly mindful of his own uncertainty, and in his second inaugural speech, he proposed that the unpleasant expense of the Civil War ought to be seen as God 's only discipline for the wrongdoing of American servitude, in which both north and south had been complicit. Promising to mend the injuries of war, he proposed to act with “firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.” (Thrift
Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, was delivered March 4, 1865. During this time, he was in the process of attempting to mend both sides of the war. Instead of giving a victory speech to the North or a blame filled speech to the South, he instead spoke to both of them, in the attempt to have war reconciliation.
When Abraham Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865, his words and tone alike had a considerable positive impact, affecting not only the citizens then, but even society today. Whereby, some consider it to be “the greatest speech of any kind ever delivered in the United States.” (Lincoln). Lincoln said,
On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural speech. Abraham Lincoln begins by addressing the nation on the ongoing civil war and his hopes on the nation uniting as a country again. Lincoln tells them “ The progress of our arms upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it its, “ Lincoln is saying that he is equal to the public and that he has also felt the wars effect. I think the main reason why this speech was written was to start reconstruction. Since the Civil War just ended, now is the time to start reconstruction. Later on, Lincoln starts talking about the North and South. It says,“ Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nations survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” It means that the North and South weren’t planning on war but because of wanting to save their nation, they sacrificed themselves and started a war. Lincoln then states, “ To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. He is saying that the war happened not because of the issue of owning slavery but because of the expansion of slavery.
34,000 people gathered around the nation’s capital to hear Abraham Lincoln give his “Second Inaugural Address”. Lincoln expressed in his address that he made his speech short because there is no time for a long one, considering the circumstances of the Civil War that they were in. His speech was only 703 words long, making it one of the shortest addresses ever (Ronald). In the “Second Inaugural Address”, Abraham Lincoln believes freedom is the ability to live life out from under the dictation of others and make choices for themselves and to do this the war had to be won and ended by the North, thus ending slavery.
Ever heard such a life changing speech that stood with you forever ? Throughout history there have been many speeches, but the greatest ones are those that stick with people even after decades. These are the speeches that have had an impact on people because of how powerful they are and people really connected with them. A great example of a timeless speech is “ The Gettysburg Address “ speech, given by former president Abraham Lincoln. This essay will focus on the impact of this speech in three main points. First, it will cover the history of the speech. Second, the importance of this speech, and thirdly, why it had such a huge impact then and still to this day.