Abraham Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address

Journal #1
Posted by Melissa Veum
English 48A
09/27/09

"Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it parish. And the war came (Lincoln, 1636)."

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally (Lincoln, quotationspage.com).

Basically I think Abraham Lincoln is describing some of the reasons for the Civil wars start. Both sides were against the war but both were fighting for different things. One party was not against letting there become a war as opposed to letting the nation survive as is and the other party would accept a war rather than letting the nation perish as is. And so Lincoln states in few words with both parties' feeling this way; the war came. Wanted or not. In so many words both parties seemed against war, but both parties wanted to be right and would do anything to be right.

I do think that one party was working toward a greater good and the other just wanted to be right and have everyone follow in their footsteps, even if it was slavery; a horrific and terrible thing that happened in this country. Lincoln knew that this would not be an easy task to abolish but he stood by his country and eventually got the best of America on the winning side and therefore abolishing slavery in the United States. Both sides of the war believed in God and both read the same Bible, yet having such differently drastic views of what was right is what brought our nation to slaughter and horrify so many Americans those hundred + years ago.