The Evolution of Lincoln's Thought Across His Speeches

Introduction: Lincoln as Orator

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most celebrated and popular Presidents in the history of the United States. Lincoln presided over the presidency at a difficult time for the country, when the unity of the nation was at stake and the question of slavery deeply polarized society. Lincoln was able to preserve the Union, but at a great cost that made him as controversial as he was popular. It is, however, uncontroversial among his contemporaries and the readers of his speeches today that the sixteenth President was a great orator, able to address a broad range of audiences — rich and poor, literate and illiterate, freemen and slaves — and he possessed a rare skill of persuasion.

Lincoln addressed a divided nation with great care and deliberateness. He was reserved when frankness could prove damaging, yet mercilessly candid when he judged candor to be necessary. A careful reading of his classic speeches reveals certain consistent trends that he followed throughout his pre-presidential and presidential careers. At the same time, his oratory shifted over time, moving from a greater emphasis on reason, intelligence, and the rule of law toward a greater emphasis on God's judgment and the importance of morality.

The Lyceum and Temperance Addresses: Reason and Rule of Law

Lincoln delivered one of his earliest political speeches at a Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, at the age of twenty-eight. He was motivated by a mob incident involving a Black man in St. Louis a few weeks earlier, and his purpose was to craft a persuasive speech emphasizing the importance of the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution. Lincoln began his Lyceum Address by reminding the audience of the blessings of American independence and the glory of the Founding Fathers — a rhetorical opening that became a consistent feature of his later speeches as well. He reminded listeners of the sacrifices the Founders had made to build a great and free nation, and argued that with their passing, the burden of continuing that legacy fell upon the shoulders of the new generation.

Lincoln therefore placed great emphasis on the dangers of mob rule and political apathy. He warned that mob law would destroy the government: as mobs rejected the law, law-abiding citizens witnessing the government's impotence would also come to distrust and resent it. Bad laws, Lincoln argued, were preferable to no laws at all. He concluded the speech by calling his listeners to reason, intelligence, morality, "and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws" (Lyceum Address, 1838).

Four years later, Lincoln delivered another important but controversial speech, this time addressing a crowd at the Second Presbyterian Church and decrying religious fanaticism and lawyers' vanity. Though his subject was seemingly apolitical, Lincoln made several political suggestions through his condemnation of preachers and lawyers who pursued temperance with excessive passion and fanaticism. For Lincoln, preachers who denounced and cursed intemperance acted against the nature of humanity, and thus against freedom, and thus against the principles upon which the United States was built. Rather than embracing the dictatorial posture he saw in such figures, Lincoln called for logic, reason, and persuasion as the proper means to combat drunkenness. Instead of rejecting drunkards, he urged sympathy and understanding.

Poetry, Morality, and Expanding Religious Appeals

In his Temperance Address, Lincoln also began to express a more poetic prose, quoting the theologian and logician Isaac Watts ("While the lamp holds out to burn / The vilest sinner may return") and making several references to Christianity. Poetry was important to Lincoln not only as a means of addressing a crowd but as a form of moral guidance. He was an astute reader of Shakespeare and drew from the great English poet lessons about the folly of war. Beginning with the Temperance Address and continuing afterward, Lincoln resorted to poetry more frequently. He made references to Christianity and appealed to his audience's patriotism, reminding them that the United States was a redeemer nation, willing to spread the idea of democracy and liberty to all of mankind. Yet reason remained central, as the following quotation attests: "Hail fall of Fury! Reign of Reason, all hail!"

Another significant feature of the Temperance Address was Lincoln's equation of drunkenness with slavery and his yearning for a time when neither evil would exist. "And when the victory shall be complete," he declared, "when there shall be neither a slave nor a drunkard on the earth — how proud the title of that Land, which may truly claim to be the birth-place and the cradle of both those revolutions, that shall have ended in that victory" (Temperance Address, 1832).

As Lincoln moved closer to his presidential career, he became more succinct in his speeches — more passionate, though in a very measured and reasoned manner — and made increasing references to morality and God. This shift is clearly visible in his Farewell Address of 1861. Lincoln is brief in this speech, very humble, and presents himself as being in need of both God's help and his friends' prayers. "Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him," Lincoln says, "I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail" (Farewell Address, 1861). Lincoln expresses his faith and trust in God while also suggesting that a great responsibility had fallen upon his shoulders.

Conclusion: The Blending of Reason and Morality

All references are drawn from The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler.