Civil War to Civil Rights, March 4, 2015, 7:30pm

On the 150th anniversary of  Lincoln’s second inaugural address, the National Cathedral will explore how the powerful words of Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., still speak to the polarizing divisions of our nation—and call today for a unified American identity.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews moderates this free panel discussion on March 4 focusing on Lincoln’s address and King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. Presented by Ford’s Theatre and Washington National Cathedral.

This will be a live webcast from the Cathedrals home page

Both speeches have famous quotes:

1. Lincoln – " With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

 

2. King  – "Like anybody, I would like to live – a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord"

Ironically, both men would be assassinated shortly after delivering these speeches.

Primary Source Links

1. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural speech – March 4, 1865

2. Kings’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop" speech – April 2, 1968.
You can also watch it on Youtube

Second source links

1. Analysis of Lincoln’s speech – Lincoln Institute and Ashland University

2. Analysis of King’s speech- King Institute Encyclopedia


Background of Lincoln’s speech – Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of 1864 by a 55 percent to 45 percent vote over George McClellan. The first president re-elected since Andrew Jackson in 1832, he carried 22 of the 25 states that voted and won the Electoral College by a vote of 212 to 21. On his inauguration day in March 1865, the Civil War was drawing to a close, Grant was forcing Lee back toward Richmond, and the Union was within days of victory, the Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery throughout the United States was being ratified, and Lincoln delivered one of the most remarkable and famous speeches in American history. Instead of setting out a Reconstruction plan, as many expected, Lincoln’s reconciliatory and almost evangelical tone established a basis for restoring the Union. The 703-word speech is one of the shortest inaugural addresses on record and sought to heal rather than to divide the nation.

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