On Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address: A Reflection on the Importance of Our Greatest President's First Speech

Abraham Lincoln's first Inaugural Address had many purposes; establish Lincoln as a leader, show his competence to those who did not support him, and most importantly to convince the southern states not to secede. Although the address did not succeed at accomplishing the latter, Lincoln did manage to create an excellent speech. Lincoln's first Inaugural Address employed the periodic sentence, religious references, and legal language to persuade the South to remain in the Union.

The periodic sentence was extremely prevalent during the 1800s, used in both lectures and documents involving laws, such as the Constitution. Lincoln uses periodic sentences often; for example the sentence "Resolved, that the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and especially the right of each state to order and control it's own domestic institutions according to it's own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and balance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any state or territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes"(Lincoln 2). In this sentence the main point, that violating individual state rights is a crime, isn't stated until the last clause. Lincoln uses periodic sentences like this one to show his education, which would make him seem more credible as a president to those who have a proclivity for disliking Northerners. However, to avoid making his speech seem ponderous, Lincoln only uses a few periodic sentences. If he establishes himself as a strong, intelligent leader, his request to avoid secession would seem more reasonable to the Southerners.

Lincoln's audience at the time of this address was almost exclusively Christian. Therefore, using religious references would also make Lincoln seem extremely trustworthy. While describing the reasons for remaining with the union, Lincoln states that God would, essentially, want the Union to stay together: "There still is no single good for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken the favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way all our present difficulty" (Lincoln 8). This statement would force Christian Southerners who wanted to secede to look at the problem with a different view; if God had wanted them to stay with the Union, a typical God-fearing Southerner would not want to disobey His wishes. Therefore, religious references would prove to be very effective in convincing Southerners to stay with the Union.

Lincoln, before he became a president, was a lawyer. As a result, he had a penchant for official terms, and his speeches are full of legal language. To introduce his reasons against secession, Lincoln says, "I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible" (Lincoln 2). By using words such as case and conclusive evidence, Lincoln draws on his legal background. He also makes direct references to "the Constitution and the laws" (Lincoln 2). Using his legal background to help describe the drawbacks of secession was a wise decision; not only would Lincoln have a better grasp of his topic, but he would sound completely official, allowing him to avoid levity in his diction. Not many people in Lincoln's audience would have gone to law school; therefore a president who understood the legal system and the basic concepts of the Constitution would seem very wise. If Lincoln showed his audience that he understood how America's system of laws worked, the southerners would not think he was encroaching upon their constitutional rights as states to continue slavery.

Lincoln's first Inaugural Address was outstanding; although the southern states did decide to secede soon after his address was made, Lincoln still created an excellent speech in which he utilized the periodic sentence, religious references, and legal language to try and persuade the south not to secede.

Work Cited
Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugural Address". Abraham Lincoln Online. 8 November 2005.