Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

Abraham Lincoln was voted for a second term probably because of how he handled the war that was between parts of our own country. In his "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865" he reflects on why African Americans are as equal as caucasians."Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we will be not judged"(Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865"). This statement made by Lincoln is proving that in the end we are all the same and that God will not judge us on the color of our skin or the type of race we originate from, but from the actions we live by during our time on earth. Emerson and Thoreau were both part of the Transcendentalist movement and this quote and belief tie into nature very well. Everything lives and at the end of that life everything dies whether young or old. The circle of life is one of the biggest factors in nature.

"when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize"(Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience"). Thoreau could not have said it any better. Back in 1775 Britain was rebelled against by men who thought that they deserved freedom from a tyrant of a nation. They had many supporters in this rebellion as do the slaves. Douglass, Lincoln, Thoreau, and many others believed the new nation to be hypocritical and did what they could to ensure that the constitution and Declaration of Independence was being carried out as they saw it ought to be. Others were so blind and ignorant to the freedom that was given to them that they forgot about the men that were forced to tend to the tobacco fields these recently freed men owned. Lincoln was not blind though and looked back on the hard and tiring work that occurred in giving the bound men their freedom and thanks the soldiers who fought for the right of freedom to the slaved. "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 a lasting piece, among ourselves, and with all nations"(Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865").

Like Lincoln, Emerson also believed that this was not the way the divine wanted it to be. "Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events"(Emerson, "Self-Reliance). These men believe that God has allowed these men to be free and that it should remain this way. Many men fought for the freedom of others and Lincoln connects to the beliefs of Emerson and Thoreau in his second inaugural address.

Emerson, Ralph W. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 08 Feb.

Lincoln, Abraham. "Internet History Sourcebooks." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.

Thoreau, Henry D. "Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (DL SunSITE)." Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE. Web. 08 Feb. 2012.