Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis

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Famous president, Abraham Lincoln, gave his Second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865. Lincoln adopts a solemn and serious tone while he recounts the atrocities of the Civil War and how the nation can still come together for in the future. Lincoln uses repetition and allusions to God in order to convey his purpose to the American people (as well as the Confederates). First, Lincoln’s use of repetition expresses the nation’s animosity towards the war and how they greatly underestimated it. The Civil War came after perpetual arguments and bills that the South felt was unfair. Eventually they reached a breaking point and succeeded from the Union. However, neither side fully wanted to commit to a war, “all dreaded it, all sought to avert it.”
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