Description
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 2005. Throughout the fractious years of the mid-nineteenth century, Abraham Lincoln's speeches imparted reason and guidance to a troubled nation. Lincoln's words were never universally praised. But they resonated with fellow legislators and the public, especially when he spoke on such volatile subjects as mob rule, temperance, the Mexican War, slavery and its expansion, and the justice of a war for freedom and union. In this close examination, John Channing Briggs reveals how the process of studying, writing, and delivering speeches helped Lincoln develop the ideas with which he would so profoundly change history. Briggs follows Lincoln's thought process through a careful chronological reading of his oratory, ranging from Lincoln's 1838 speech to the Springfield Lyceum to his second inaugural address. Recalling David Herbert Donald's celebrated revisionist essays (Lincoln Reconsidered, 1947), Briggs's study provides students of Lincoln with new insight into
Trade ReviewRemarkably, Briggs . . . [has] managed to find new ground to harvest.
—Harold Holzer,
Washington Post Book WorldBriggs interprets Lincoln's references to Providence with a subtlety and intelligence I believe to be unsurpassed in Lincoln scholarship . . . A model of how better to understand our country and ourselves.
—Glen E. Thurow,
Claremont Review of BooksSucceeds in illuminating the earlier speeches as elements in Lincoln's evolving ideology.
—Paul M. Zall,
Journal of the Abraham Lincoln AssociationLincoln's Speeches Reconsidered does a finer job than any of the other commentaries on Lincoln's speeches, and its reading will repay richly the serious student of Lincoln and of American political ideas in general.
—Allen Carl Guelzo,
Indiana Magazine of HistoryJohn Channing Briggs has thought long, hard, and well about the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, and he has produced a book that deserves to be read.
—Stewart Winger,
Register of the Kentucky Historical SocietyBriggs enriches our understanding of Lincoln's pre-presidential speeches.
—David Zarefsky,
Rhetoric ReviewA valuable intellectual history of Lincoln's speeches and developing thought on the issues of democracy, slavery, and self-government.
—Brian Dirck,
American StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Note on Sources
Introduction. The Mind of the Persuader
Chapter 1. Rhetorical Contexts
Chapter 2. The Lyceum Address
Chapter 3. The Temperance Address
Chapter 4. The Speech on the War with Mexico and the Eulogy for Zachary Taylor
Chapter 5. The Eulogy for Henry Clay
Chapter 6. The Kansas-Nebraska Speech
Chapter 7. The "House Divided" Speech
Chapter 8. Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions
Chapter 9. The Milwaukee Address
Chapter 10. The Cooper Union Address
Chapter 11. Presidential Eloquence and Political Religion
Chapter 12. The Farewell Address
Chapter 13. The First Inaugural, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural
Postscript. The Letter to Mrs. Bixby
Notes
Index
