Bible and God

God was a big reference in Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural speech. He asked God very many questions. This speech was definitely a prayer to God from Lincoln and the nation. He was asking for help, forgiveness, etc. Both sides were praying to God. “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God.” They were trying to get god’s assistance in killing people from the opposing side. However, that wasn’t going to happen because God doesn’t kill. I think God was trying to tell them that some people are going to have to die in order for the two opposing sides to agree. They have all sinned so they need to undertake some consequences. But is it God’s will? Did God intend for this to happen to reunite us again? The nation did eventually unite but were the millions of lives that were taken necessary? It’s hard to believe that God would want this for the world. However, God can’t help everyone.

God has his own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” This is a quote from the bible. Lincoln said how God gave America war because of the horrible deeds done to slaves in the South.

Lincoln still states, however, that people still pray for the war to be over hoping that God will hear their cry. Lincoln understands what God’s will is but he wants the war to end because of all the lives that are being taken. I am sure he thinks it is absurd that a war like this is still going. This was a war that neither side, north or south, wanted in the beginning. Lincoln is trying his hardest to make things right in our nation so we can agree and be reunited once again. He knows that God wants that too but there are still consequences that need to be taken account for.

“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.” He finishes his inaugural speech with demanding statements that are meant for God to hear. He wants him to hear the nations cry for help and to understand that they have gone through enough in this war. It is time to end.

Slavery

The argument between the North and the South about slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. Slaves first arrived in America in 1619. Slavery is when a person is completely owned by another person. They were overworked and usually never paid. Slavery was more common in the Southern states because they grew cotton and farmers needed people to work in the fields. The owners bossed them around. They gave slaves the bare minimum to survive. Slaves were offered as gifts, traded, or sold. Families were torn apart because of this. Slaves did not have rights or freedom. They didn’t have anything but the clothes on their back. “One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it.” This quote is from Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural speech. Lincoln wanted slavery to end as much as the slaves did. He made that happen by ending the war.

During the civil war, much didn’t change with the treatment of the slaves. The south was still really brutal to the slaves and made them work from dawn to dark. The confederate army had many laws against integration of the army, but many African Americans were enlisted. They were slaves, cooks, guards, manservants, etc. Basically they did all the manual labor stuff. In the north, the union enlisted many African Americans into their army. In response, many slaves fled to the North for freedom and to fight against the people in the South. However, in both sides of the war, African Americans were often seen on the front line of most of the dangerous battles. Some say if the South would have utilized more people such as African Americans, there might have been another outcome to the war. Since the Union won, Lincoln abolished slavery. Even though they weren’t completely equal with the whites yet, they were still free. They worked hard for many years and now it had finally come to an end. It was even a good thing because some were reunited with families that had been torn apart throughout the whole process. They were happy that the misery was over.

People in the South were not happy with Lincoln.  Lincoln enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and the thirteenth amendment. The 13^th amendment was passed in 1865 and banned slavery throughout the United States. It also stated that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should exist in the nation.

American Civil War

In the 1860’s, the North and South never agreed on anything. They were always arguing and getting into fights. Then in 1861, the civil war started because of the argument with federal authority, slavery, and western expansion. Lincoln stated in his speech, “both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.” They both dreaded war but it still had terrible consequences for both the north and the south. They would have never imagined the harm that it would do and the time it would take for it to end. It was a hard time for everyone.

Lincoln was loved by many, but hated by many as well. When he was elected into office, seven states dropped out of the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Four more joined after the first shots of the Civil War were fired. This war went on for four brutal years in many places around the nation. It was a war where brothers fought against brothers and neighbors against neighbors. By the end of the war, the confederate surrendered to the union in 1865. The Civil War is known as the most expensive war ever fought on American soil. Over 2.4 soldiers were killed as well as millions being injured. The population and territory within the southern states was destroyed by war.

“Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.” This quote was stated in the speech said by Abraham Lincoln. It is devastating how neither one wanted this and it still happened. So many lives were lost. Some many innocent people were killed or injured while just doing daily chores or jobs. Some many children were left homeless. Is this really what America wanted to happen? A lot of lives were lost for a war that wasn’t wanted by either side. However, when two people don’t agree, they fight. Unfortunately, that is how it is. We look back at it now as a changing point in our country. But what are we looking at? The victory? Because in reality, no one won.

Witnesses of the Speech

Abraham Lincoln was a hero, role model, and historic figure that many people remember. In his second term he gave a speech that spoke to the nation, The Second Inaugural Speech. The Civil War was still happening. Slavery was still a problem among the nations. This speech was a prayer to God with the nation. He seems strong and confident as he talks to the nation but I don’t know if he actually was. I can’t believe how stressful this time was for him with a second term, slavery, and the civil war. But he stayed poised as always.

Along with the speech, there were comments that supported what Abraham said. This speech is known as one of the most intense speeches of our nation. Basically, it goes down in history. It was quoted that “we can not read it without a renewed conviction that it is the noblest political document known to history, and should have for the nation and the statesmen he left behind him something of a sacred and almost prophetic character.” People worshiped Lincoln because he was such an amazing political figure.

Noah Brooks actually witnessed the speech. He was a journalist that stated that when Lincoln stood up, “a roar of applause shook the air, and, again and again repeated, finally died away on the outer fringe of the throng, like a sweeping wave upon the shore. Just at that moment the sun, which had been obscured all day, burst forth in its unclouded meridian splendor, and flooded the spectacle with glory and with light.” Noah, along with many different people, was happy to see that he was doing another term, especially within this war. Everyone was touched by his inaugural speech. People even had tears in there eyes. Everyone was in awe. Everyone was in silence. Brooks also said “But chiefly memorable in the mind of those who saw that second inauguration must still remain the tall, pathetic, melancholy figure of the man who, then inducted into office in the midst of the glad acclaim of thousands of people, and illumined by the deceptive brilliance of a March sunburst, was already standing in the shadow of death.” This states that he was already worn by the war but this moment was so memorable that it makes him brilliant. Yet, he still has so much to do in office before the war is over.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Thomas was a strong and determined pioneer. Lincoln had two other siblings, Sarah, his older sister, and a younger brother named Thomas who died as a baby. When Abraham was still a child, his mother died of tremetol, a milk sickness. This really upset him. But, a few months later his dad married Sarah Bush Johnston, who Abraham quickly bonded with. He started to become educated a few hours a week and started reading a lot. He would walk miles just to borrow a book. His childhood was hard but it set him up for a long and good life of his own.

His political career started after the Black Hawk War, where he was a captain. He was elected into Illinois State Legislature in 1834 as a member of the Whig Party. He began to have strong believes about slavery and how it was a weakness to the nation. He then became a lawyer, representative in the House, and then a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. In 1856, Lincoln joined the Republican Party in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed states to decide if they wanted to have slaves within that state. Because of the controversy of slaves and equal rights, he challenged a senator for his seat. He was nominated and argued that slavery is wrong and declared ‘a house divided can not stand.’

Lincoln then ran for president and was supported by his party completely. He ended up winning with 40 percent of the popular vote and more than half of the electoral votes. Lincoln picked many strong candidates for his cabinet and they became one of his strongest assets in his term. Then the Civil War began and he donated money without permission of the Congress and called for soldiers without declaring war. The first year of the war was really hard and Lincoln struggled to stay strong. He was often at odds with many people. However, the war did improve and the luck changed for the North.

John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. It was a devastating event for the nation. Abraham had a good life and many loved him. He was strong and always made an incredible impact on the nation. He was one of the greatest heroes of his time and is still loved today by many fellow Americans.