Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Content Warning: The source material and this guide reference the enslavement of Black Americans and the associated racism and prejudice.

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is one of the shortest inaugural addresses in American history. This conciseness serves to enhance the address’s power, requiring Lincoln to distill his thoughts and feelings into the most impactful language possible. The economy of words amplifies the urgency and gravity of his message, allowing each word to carry more weight and significance. It also meant that listeners and readers could easily grasp and remember his key ideas, helping to ensure that his vision for unity and reconciliation reached as many people as possible during a time when the nation was still hurting and divided from the events of the Civil War.

His first address, given four years earlier, directly placed the blame on the South for starting the war. In 1865, though, people had faced the horrors of war and were ready for an end to the bloodshed. Union victories over the Confederacy hinted that the end to the war was in sight, but everyone had their own ideas for the