LAD#19-Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Saturday March 4th, 1865

When Abraham Lincoln was elected President for his second term, the United States was in the heat of the Civil War. He starts by addressing the fact that four years ago at his first inaugural address, he was solely devoted to saving the Union without engaging in a war. Now his second inaugural address is devoted to discussing the war. He says, "let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."This shows that Lincoln is ready for the war to end. He acknowledges that it has been a good fight over some big sectional issues, but now it is time to end it and become the UNITED States of America once again.