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VII "WITH CHARITY FOR ALL" The Second Inaugural Address as Persuasion What historians have said of the First InauguralAddress is equallytrue of the Second, delivered March 4,1865. In the wordsof James G. Randall, the Second was also a declaration of faith, assurance, and persuasion. The First served as the prologue; the Second, as the epilogue to "a fearful and shifting story." Coming after many difficult decisions and the great anxiety of the war, this remarkable address, compact in composition and meaning, provided revealing insights into the times as well as the innermost thoughts and feelings of the Illinois lawyer who strove to understand and meet the demands of his great burden.' Because it was epideictic in character, profound in thought, and eloquent in language, the address has assumed a mythic quality, as has much of Lincoln'slife and thought. It has deservedly gained stature as one of the best addresses in the English language.2 The present discussion, however, isto explain not its aesthetic quality but its practical goals in its immediate context; the focus is on the address as persuasion, that is, as an attempt to move listeners. Some, because of their reverence for the speech; may feel that such a quest is almost blasphemous. Nevertheless, Lincoln had goals to accomplish, and in the role of public speaker he was a persuader. One wayto gain insight into the motivation for the address is to review the events and forces that had influenced Lincoln during the previous four months. On March 4, because of recent developments, Lincoln had reason to be reflective and encouraged. First, he had achieved reelection with a majority of 400,000 votes, receiving a total of 2,203,831 popular votes to 1,797,019 for the Democratic candidate, George McClellan (212 electoral votes to 21 for his opponent). In his annual message to 1. James G. Randall, "Lincoln's Great Declaration of Faith," New York Times Magazine, February 6, 1949, Sec. 6, p. 11. 2. Louis A. Warren, Lincoln's Gettysburg Declaration: A New Birth of Freedom (Fort Wayne, Ind., 1964), 171-76. 88 "WITH CHARITY FOR ALL" Congress on December 6, 1864, Lincoln had said, "Judging by the recent canvass and its results, the purpose of the people within the loyal states, to maintain the integrity of the Union, was never more firm, nor more nearly unanimous, than now."3 Second, Lincoln wasin a position to tell Congress, "Our arms have steadily advanced; thus liberating the regions left in the rear, so that Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of other states have again produced reasonably fair crops." Furthermore, he knew that he now had two powerful, well-directed, advancing armies under Grant and William T. Sherman that were squeezing the Confederate forces into ever-smaller areas.4 Third, on January 31, 1865, Congress had passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, an action that had come at Lincoln's urging. He had told the representatives and senators in his annual message, "The voice of the people [had been] heard upon the question," and he wanted abolition made complete, legal, and universal . It was reported that Lincoln "thought this measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to winding up of the great difficulty." By the day of his inauguration, seventeen states had already ratified the amendment, and by December 18, 1865, twentyseven states had approved it, thus making it law.5 Fourth, the administration was receiving signals indicating that some leaders of the Confederacy were eager for peace. Conditions in the South were desperate, with shortages of food and supplies, staggering militarylosses, little hope of foreign aid, and low morale in the army and among the citizens. Some states were withholding their support ofthe Confederate government. Lincoln and Seward had held an unsuccessful but revealing four-hour informal conference with rebel commissioners Alexander Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter, and John A. Campbell at Hampton Roads on February 3, 1865, to discuss the possible cessation of military activities. But at the moment, the Confederates were unwilling to meet Lincoln's three peace conditions: the restoration of national authority, the acceptance of the Union position on slavery, and the disbanding of all hostile forces. Upon 3. Benjamin P Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (New York, 1952), 452-53; RoyP Easier (ed.), The CollectedWork of Abraham Lincoln (9 vols.; New Brunswick, N. J., 1953), VIII, 149-50. 4. Easier (ed.), Collected Works, VIII, 148. 5. Ibid., VIII, 254; John G. Nicolay and John Hay...

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