Biography
The sixteenth president of the United States was born in
a backwoods cabin in Kentucky to parents who were barely
literate. After growing up on the family farm, Lincoln tried
various jobs, but he finally decided on a career in law.
He passed the Illinois State bar in 1836 by studying independently
and became a respected lawyer. Lincoln married Mary Todd,
from a wealthy Kentucky family, in 1842, and in the 1840s
and 50s he became increasingly more involved in politics.
As tensions mounted between the North and the South over
the question of slavery, Lincoln's primary concern was that
the United States should remain a unified nation. He joined
the newly formed Republican Party in 1854 and ran for the
Illinois State Senate in 1858 against Stephen A. Douglas.
Though he lost that race, he won the 1860 presidential election;
a month after his inauguration the Civil War began. Lincoln
was an eloquent orator, whose famous political speeches include
the House Divided speech (1858), in which he argued
against southern secession; the Emancipation Proclamation (1863),
in which he called for an end to slavery; and the Gettysburg
Address (1863), in which he commemorated the most devastating
battle of the Civil War. Lincoln was assassinated at the
beginning of his second presidential term, shot by the actor
John Wilkes Booth in April 1865 while attending the theater.
Explorations
The House Divided speech and the Second Inaugural
Address are less known and discussed, in their entirety,
than the Gettysburg Address, which generations of Americans
have known by heart. Comparing these two other speeches
can help us appreciate Lincoln's range as an orator and
as an innovator and lasting, central influence in the public
discourse of the United States.
1. By both Civil War-era standards and modern ones, the Second
Inaugural is a short speech -- three fairly brief
paragraphs and one long one. In the long paragraph, Lincoln
describes the human experience of the Civil War itself;
it is the only paragraph to do so. In what terms does
Lincoln describe the war? What repeated patterns do you
observe in this section of the speech? How do these patterns
prepare for or harmonize with the structure of the one-sentence
paragraph that closes the address?
2. The House Divided speech, delivered in the
Illinois Republican State Convention about seven years
before the Second Inaugural, includes sequences
of very short paragraphs -- "sound bytes," as we call them
now. How might we explain this difference in rhetorical
strategies? In what ways were the historical moment and
situation different? Comparing the two speeches, do you
see any similarities in sentence structure? If so, describe
those similarities.
3. What kinds of diction does Lincoln favor? What rhetorical
options does he avoid or use sparingly? Compare the final
two sentences on the Second Inaugural. Which seems
to you more typical of Lincoln's style? Why?
Other sites to consult:
The
History Place Presents Abraham Lincoln.
An impressively detailed biographical timeline
of Lincoln. Includes several images and links to
selected writings.
Abraham
Lincoln Online. A creative and informative
site. Includes the complete texts of Lincoln's
speeches and writings; a knowledge quiz; and a "Lincoln
This Week" feature which marks the anniversaries
of events in Lincoln's life and career by week.
Abraham
Lincoln: Sixteenth President (1861-1865).
A biography, the complete texts of Lincoln's first
and second inaugural addresses, and quotations. From
the White House site.
Abraham
Lincoln. Features many links to Lincoln and
Civil War sites, including a Lincoln family tree
and information about Lincoln's assassination (University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html:
The official White House biography of Lincoln.
http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/: Primary documents from Lincoln/Net.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html: Lincoln
papers from the Library of Congress.
http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?PresidentNumber=16:
A life portrait of Lincoln.
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