{"id":95845,"date":"2025-02-18T17:06:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T17:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/americanstudies-january-21-2025-misread-quotes-lincolns-2nd-inaugural\/"},"modified":"2025-02-18T17:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T17:06:42","slug":"americanstudies-january-21-2025-misread-quotes-lincolns-2nd-inaugural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845","title":{"rendered":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[I had
\noriginally planned a series on historical inaugurations this week, but I don\u2019t
\nimagine too many of us want to be thinking about the inauguration any more than
\nwe have to. So instead, I\u2019m gonna go with a suggestion from my wife, using the
\noccasion of MLK Day to highlight a handful of historical quotes, from him and
\nothers, that our conservative commentators and politicians tend to get very
\nwrong!]<\/p>\n

On what Lincoln
\ndid indeed say in his 1865 second inaugural address, and two other things he
\nimportantly said as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abraham
\nLincoln\u2019s Second
\nInaugural<\/a>, delivered on March 4th<\/sup>, 1865, is not quite as brief
\nas the Gettysburg
\nAddress<\/a> but is still quite short (especially for an inaugural address), totaling
\nless than 700 words. That makes every one of those words even more significant for
\nsure, and so I don\u2019t entirely disagree with the emphasis that has long been
\nplaced on Lincoln\u2019s brief and pointed final paragraph: \u201cWith malice toward
\nnone, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see
\nthe right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation\u2019s
\nwounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and
\nhis orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
\namong ourselves and with all nations.\u201d There are more clauses in that one-sentence
\nparagraph than have generally been the focus, but \u201cmalice toward none\u201d and \u201ccharity
\nfor all\u201d are indeed two striking perspectives at the end of the Civil War, and
\nare thus indeed a model for reconciliation as this passage has long been read.<\/span><\/p>\n

But at just
\nover 70 words, that brief paragraph comprises about one-tenth of the inaugural,
\nand for most of the rest of it (hyperlinked above so you can read the whole
\nthing for yourself), Lincoln says some quite different things about the war
\nthat, not surprisingly, have not figured into conservative collective memory of
\nthis speech and moment. For one thing, he is quite clear about the
\ncauses of the Civil War<\/a>: \u201cThese slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful
\ninterest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen,
\nperpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents
\nwould rend the Union even by war.\u201d The paragraph which begins with those
\nsentences is by the longest in the address, indeed comprises nearly two-thirds
\nof the entire speech, and so it\u2019s more than fair to say that the main thrust of
\nLincoln\u2019s remarks was not on imagining a reunited future, but on being very
\nclear about what had brought the nation to this present point. Anyone who argues
\nthat he would have let the nation forget those histories had he lived into Reconstruction
\nneeds to grapple with that fundamental fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover,
\nLincoln ends that longest paragraph on an even more somber and striking note,
\none that would not be out of place in another great
\nAmerican speech<\/a>, Frederick Douglass\u2019s \u201cWhat to the Slave is the 4th<\/sup>
\nof July?\u201d Having expressed the \u201cfond and fervent\u201d hope that \u201cthis mighty scourge
\nof war may speedily pass away,\u201d Lincoln adds, \u201cYet, if God wills that it continue
\nuntil all the wealth piled by the bondsman\u2019s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited
\ntoil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be
\npaid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so
\nstill it must be said \u2018the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
\naltogether.\u2019\u201d In Of
\nThee I Sing<\/a><\/i> I made the case for Lincoln as a consistent voice of
\ncritical patriotism, and I don\u2019t think he ever expressed that perspective more
\nclearly nor more powerfully than in this impassioned sentence. Let\u2019s make sure
\nto remember it as well every time we quote the malice and charity moment. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next misread
\nquote tomorrow,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What
\ndo you think?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[I had originally planned a series on historical inaugurations this week, but I don\u2019t imagine too many of us want to be thinking about the inauguration any more than we have to. So instead, I\u2019m gonna go with a suggestion from my wife, using the occasion of MLK Day to highlight a handful of historical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[8451,13299,23614,3805,37069,24880,6289],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-95845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-2nd","tag-americanstudies","tag-inaugural","tag-january","tag-lincolns","tag-misread","tag-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\nAmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[I had originally planned a series on historical inaugurations this week, but I don\u2019t imagine too many of us want to be thinking about the inauguration any more than we have to. So instead, I\u2019m gonna go with a suggestion from my wife, using the occasion of MLK Day to highlight a handful of historical […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"2nd\",\"AmericanStudies\",\"inaugural\",\"January\",\"Lincolns\",\"Misread\",\"Quotes\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\",\"name\":\"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network","og_description":"[I had originally planned a series on historical inaugurations this week, but I don\u2019t imagine too many of us want to be thinking about the inauguration any more than we have to. So instead, I\u2019m gonna go with a suggestion from my wife, using the occasion of MLK Day to highlight a handful of historical […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural","datePublished":"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845"},"wordCount":685,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["2nd","AmericanStudies","inaugural","January","Lincolns","Misread","Quotes"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845","name":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-18T17:06:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=95845#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2025: Misread Quotes: Lincoln\u2019s 2nd Inaugural"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95845"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=95845"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=95845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}