Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural and Gettysburg Addresses

Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1865" really does not have many characteristics of Realism, Naturalism, or Regionalism. If anything, I would say that it was closer to a Puritan or Romantic work. I get the Puritan part because of how Lincoln mentioned God's providence many times such as when he wrote,"If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove..." (Lincoln Second 339). The overtones of religion are not particular to Realism, which is why I thought this might be better suited as a Puritan work. However, the "Second Inaugural Address" has a Naturalistic tone because of the belief that a high power is controlling our fate. Lincoln is basically saying that they were able to have slaves because the Lord allowed it. I think of this as a Romanticism work because it sounds really lofty and details Lincoln's dream for the future. The other side to that coin though, is that his dreams were born from the reality of the Civil War. We obviously know that what Lincoln hoped for in this speech came true, as we do not have slavery today. Therefore, we can say that what Lincoln wrote could happen, making it a Realist work.

Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" is a better example of Realism than his "Second Inaugural Address". It makes historical references to the beginning of America, which could be associated with Realism because events such as the forming of America, the Civil War, and the battle of Gettysburg actually did happen. This speech also has a bit of Regionalism in it, as it describes the atmosphere of the area, as well as what occurred there. Naturalism also is apparent here because fate had a part in what happened at Gettysburg, and Lincoln also says that the fate of the soldiers who died will not be forgotten. "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." (Lincoln Gettysburg 402). Turns out that he was wrong about the part where we would forget what he said that day, but the Naturalistic tones are there.

Both of the speeches show Realism/Regionalism tendencies in the words themselves. The language of both is not very fancy. That is not saying that the words have no impact or deep meaning because that is not the case. Abraham Lincoln just was not pretentious when writing his speeches. The simple writing he preferred is a characteristic of Regionalism and Realism (Campbell both). This was also one of the many things that people loved about him.

I do not think that either of these should count as a true Realism speech. While the characteristics that I pointed out above are in the speeches, there are also hints of other writing styles that are not related to Realism. Also seeing as how both the excerpt of the "Second Inaugural Address" and the "Gettysburg Address" were very short, there was really no room for Realism.

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 339. Print.

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 402. Print.