Differences Between Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

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There is no doubt that Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. He was confident in himself, as well as the future of the Union, and always fought for peace as well as the end of slavery. However, Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address showed both drastic differences, as well as many similarities from his second. The Addresses showed major differences in a sense of national identity towards whether or not the Civil War should be fought as well as a difference in talking about America’s past and future. Lincoln’s addresses are also similar in the way that Lincoln simply wants peace over all else. Lincoln’s view on the civil war changes drastically from his first Inaugural Address to his second. In his first address, Lincoln talks about how war is out of his control, and is up to the people of the Union and the Confederacy. Lincoln says “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.” Lincoln is telling the people that if they want war, then there will be a war, and Lincoln himself will have to accept that. If the people want peace, then there will be peace. The theme of national identity is seen here as it is up to …show more content…
Lincoln had accepted that the result is in God’s hands, but hoped that the war would end soon to put an end to the senseless killing. Lincoln regards the war saying “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 and for his widow and his orphan.” In this Lincoln said that the war needs to come to an end soon in order to end the unnecessary killing and for the United States to rise back up as a strong country. This portrays the national identity of Americans coming together in an attempt to end a tragic war and stop the
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