Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Questions?

Question

Hi! Can anyone answer some questions about events occuring during and around Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address? Specifically:
1. What was the political atmosphere at the time?
2. What was Lincoln's attitude for the preservation of the union?
3. What was his purpose for the address?

Thank you for whatever help you can offer! I'm working on this for a rhetoric paper and cannot find the information in the form I need.

Answer 1

That's a lot to answer on here, but, here goes..
1) The political mood/atmosphere on March 4, 1865, was for the 1st time in years hopeful and optomistic in the North. Grant was closing in on Lee, the war in the West was over, and it looked like it was just a matter of time, weeks maybe, before the end of the war. The biggest fear was guerilla warfare if an end to hostilities.
2) Lincoln's Inaugural Address is ranked as the best or close to it, particularily with his "with malice towards none" phrase. Folks knew then that he would not press for strict repudiation of the South.
3) The purpose of his address was simply, lets get on with healing and reunite this country after this terrible tragedy. We've all suffered enough.

When you get a chance, read "April, 1865", a great account of the period.

Good luck in your studies!

Answer 2

If you want an EXCELLENT treatment of the Second Inaugural, including the political setting.... the definitive work is a book by Ronald C. White, Jr, Lincoln's Greatest Speech : The Second Inaugural (Simon & Shuster, 2002)

White has since written another volume --The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words (Random House, 2005)--which discusses several key Lincoln speeches from his farewell at Springfield onward. The final chapter discusses the second inaugural.

(Both are available at places like Amazon and in many public libraries.)

To get a good start, check out the following review of three recent books on the second inaugural (including White's) --
"A Second Look at Lincoln's Second Inaugural" by Lucas E. Morel
http://www.claremont.org/writings/050211morel.html?FORMAT=print