Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Speech” was an attempt to make peace within the country. He felt that both political parties felt a war approaching, but neither knew what to do about it. The inevitable came, and war broke out between the Confederate States and the Union. Lincoln pointed out that even the slaves, who made up approximately one-eighth of the population, knew that the friction between the sides was about them. Abraham Lincoln discussed the same issues that Thoreau had with slavery. Neither man could understand how the slave owners could look to God and read his word yet continue to follow the unforgivable lives that they did. In fact, the very same slaves that were being beaten by these owners were looking to the same God in hopes of change.  In the “Second Inaugural Speech”, Lincoln says, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other” (Abraham). Although Lincoln didn’t agree with slavery, he chose not to make any big scenes about it like Henry David Thoreau. He did fight a war on behalf of the idea to free slaves, but he never broke any laws to stand up for the cause. He chose a more professional way to approach the situation by making speeches to share his feelings. One could argue that Thoreau, as a social outcast, was never given the opportunity to be looked at in a professional manner, so he had to be sent to jail just to get his message heard. No matter how different the social level of Thoreau and Lincoln, both men shared the same idea of a free country with free people within that country. Lincoln claims that he not only wants freedom, but he wants peace between people. Judging by the intense class levels of people and workers at this time, peace between all people would have been asking a lot. Lincoln ultimately says that it’s going to take all people working together to “bind up the nation’s wounds” (Abraham).

"Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address. U.S. Inaugural Addresses. 1989." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.