Allusions In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

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Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis What if your country, your dearly beloved country, was near ruins, and you had to say a speech powerful to fix it all? Abraham Lincoln knew this is what he had to do. Lincoln was elected twice for president during the Civil War. During his Inaugural Address, Lincoln tries his best to put an make a peaceful transition after the war through the use of biblical allusions and his credibility of his presidency throughout the war. In his 2nd Inaugural Address, Lincoln used allusions to the Bible to help the nation realize God’s viewpoint of the war. Lincoln uses quotes from the Bible to make sense of the war in a biblical impression. From the Bible, he exemplifies “woe onto the world because of offenses; for it must needs come, but woe to …show more content…
Lincoln interprets slavery as “one of the offenses, in which, in the providence of God, must needs come,” because slavery is an offense to mankind, which God has created; therefore, we are criticising His work by degrading His creation. Using the quote from the Bible, Lincoln connects the idea of slavery to the offense of men; therefore, God is allowing the war to happen as punishment for the offense. As Lincoln uses this statement, the listeners understand why God has not answered their prayers. They all come to the conclusion that they must stop slavery, so God will answer their prayers and help end the war. He refers to the continuing of the war as “the judgements of the Lord,” in which are always “true and righteous” for the offense of slavery. Lincoln implies that God is always right, according to the Bible, and if anyone
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