Gettysburg Address
On November 1863 President Abraham Lincoln was asked to create a small speech for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The basic premise of this speech was to commemorate the dead soldiers who gave their lives during the Civil War. Even though this was considered one of the most famous speeches in American history, Lincoln was not the main speaker of this particular event. A man named Edward Everett spoke for two hours from memory, whereas Lincoln’s speech was only a mere two minutes. This speech is where the famous “Four score and seven years ago,” quote originated from.
Emancipation Proclomation
The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1st, 1863. Even though this was the day that the proclamation was officially in action, Abraham Lincoln had contemplated the logistics of the proclamation for a while. Lincoln first gave the idea to free the slaves and cripple the Confederacy to the cabinet in the summer of 1862. This would cripple the Confederates because it would take the slaves away from the south so the Confederacy could no longer use them as slaves to support the army in the field. Initially the Proclamation applied just to the states that had seceded, but it paved the way for the 13th Amendment, passed on December 6, 1865, which officially abolished slavery in the United States.
(Image Source) https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/almintr.html
First Inauguaration speech
March 4, 1861, was a big day for Abraham Lincoln and for America. That morning he and President James Buchanan left the Willard Hotel, which is nearby the White House, in a horse-drawn carriage towards the Capitol. Shortly after 1 p.m., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger B. Taney administered the presidential oath of office. With the swearing of his official vows, Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States. This speech was a very important one because he would be speaking not only as the new president but also as the leader of a split nation.
Second Inauguration speech
Lincoln’s second Inaugural address took place on March 4, 1865. It was the beginning of his second term and he spoke about the Civil War up until that point. In his address he reminded listeners that the issue of slavery had been central to the Civil War and suggested that slavery had offended God and brought retribution in the form of the conflict. Now he urged a national reunion "with malice toward none, with charity for all." After his second inauguration, Lincoln wrote that he expected his address “to wear as well as—perhaps better than—anything I have produced; but I believe it is not immediately popular.”
(Image Source) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln%27s_second_inaugural_address