LAD #19 Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Summary of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, 1865:

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Speech is rather short, and at its opening he declares that there is little new news to present to the nation, and that the progress of the war was as well known to the general public as it was to himself. He states that his first inaugural was devoted to saving the nation without war, but now war has come upon them because "...one party would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish."

He goes on to briefly discuss the how slavery led to the war, and how the war to date has surpassed the worst expectations on either side. He contemplates how both sides have prayed to God for assistance, and also how he believes that the Lord has his own plan on how to exact justice for the hundreds of years of bondage the slaves have been made to suffer.

Lincoln concludes with the resolution to complete the war, repair the nation, care for the damaged soldiers and their widows and orphans, and "...do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace..."