In 1865, the American civil war was was nearing it’s end. With President Lincoln being re-elected, Americans looked to him for guidance and eloquence. In his Second Inaugural Address, President Lincoln addresses speaks of God in order to establish his ethos, which allows him to create an effective homily his “fellow-countrymen”. He calls for all American citizens to do what’s necessary to end the war and establish everlasting peace in an effort to establish a better sense of unity.
Most Americans were Christians who followed the bible, therefore talking about God allowed for Lincoln’s message to be easily absorbed and trusted. He says, “... with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the world we are in… to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” Once Lincoln has the American people’s trust in his message, he uses his spiritual tone to let them know what to do in the time of crisis. The major disunity and division in the country was the open wound that his words healed. Lincoln puts the North and the South under one category by mentioning that “both read from the same Bible and pray to the same God.” By uniting the American people through a strong force of religion, he is able to create a sense of hope and show everyone that they are not very different, yet the same in many ways.
Abraham Lincoln was able to spark a sense of unity in a largely divided country by pointing out what everyone had in common, religion. He expertly does this by first establishing his ethos with the speaking of God, and then using God’s teachings to deliver a homily that would strike the hearts of all Americans.
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