Lincoln's Speeches Reconsidered

Originally 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 his words, intentions, and image.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments 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

About the Author :
John Channing Briggs is a professor of English at the University of California, Riverside.

Review :
Remarkably, Briggs . . . [has] managed to find new ground to harvest. —Harold Holzer, Washington Post Book World Briggs 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 Books Succeeds in illuminating the earlier speeches as elements in Lincoln's evolving ideology. —Paul M. Zall, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association Lincoln'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 History John 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 Society Briggs enriches our understanding of Lincoln's pre-presidential speeches. —David Zarefsky, Rhetoric Review A valuable intellectual history of Lincoln's speeches and developing thought on the issues of democracy, slavery, and self-government. —Brian Dirck, American Studies