Lincoln's Speeches Reconsidered

by John Channing Briggs

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421437460
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	386
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

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

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

What People are Saying About This

Douglas L. Wilson

Most books about Abraham Lincoln can be taken or left alone. This book merits attention for at least two important reasons: it takes a fresh and original look at the major speeches of Abraham Lincoln, and it manages to shed new light on some of the most familiar of all American texts.

— Douglas L. Wilson, Knox College

Harvey C. Mansfield

A masterly study of Lincoln's pre-presidential speeches that conveys the clarity, accuracy, simplicity and depth of his words. Briggs shows Lincoln with the best style of a lawyer in politics, where the means is to find the single most persuasive argument and the object is to convince and not bemuse.

— Harvey C. Mansfield, Harvard University

From the Publisher

Most books about Abraham Lincoln can be taken or left alone. This book merits attention for at least two important reasons: it takes a fresh and original look at the major speeches of Abraham Lincoln, and it manages to shed new light on some of the most familiar of all American texts.
—Douglas L. Wilson, Knox College

An invaluable contribution to the study of American political rhetoric and to Lincoln studies.
—James Engell, Chair, Department of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University

A masterly study of Lincoln's pre-presidential speeches that conveys the clarity, accuracy, simplicity and depth of his words. Briggs shows Lincoln with the best style of a lawyer in politics, where the means is to find the single most persuasive argument and the object is to convince and not bemuse.
—Harvey C. Mansfield, Harvard University

James Engell

An invaluable contribution to the study of American political rhetoric and to Lincoln studies.

— James Engell, Chair, Department of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher

Briggs enriches our understanding of Lincoln's pre-presidential speeches.

Rhetoric Review - David Zarefsky

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.

Claremont Review of Books - Glen E. Thurow

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.

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society - Stewart Winger

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.

Indiana Magazine of History - Allen Carl Guelzo

Succeeds in illuminating the earlier speeches as elements in Lincoln's evolving ideology.

Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association - Paul M. Zall

Remarkably, Briggs . . . [has] managed to find new ground to harvest.

Washington Post Book World - Harold Holzer

A valuable intellectual history of Lincoln's speeches and developing thought on the issues of democracy, slavery, and self-government.

American Studies - Brian Dirck

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

Succeeds in illuminating the earlier speeches as elements in Lincoln's evolving ideology.

— Paul M. Zall

Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

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

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