LAD/Blog #19: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

 
Lincoln entered his second term with the Civil War still raging and the same challenges and struggles still fresh in his mind. The Union had to be rebuilt, and it was his duty to restore it. In his Second Inaugural Address, he stood before United States citizens and recounted the war thus far, detailing political parties and the nature of the slave population in the South, which the South believed would secure them an easy victory. Not so. Both sides, Lincoln said, prayed to the same God, and yet both sides believed that God was on their side, thus pitting God against Himself and leading people to wonder about God's will. Lincoln knew that people wondered how He could let so many citizens perish, and noted that God worked in mysterious and righteous ways. Lincoln's final, resounding message of the Address was one of peace. Peace was attainable, but American people had to help attain it. The people of America had to move on from the war someday, and after it was over help to care for each other and heal the country's wounds, "with malice toward none, with charity for all."