American lliterature - Essay Example

Jacob’s works in comparison to Douglas’s though similar differed in the literary and political circumstances in which they were written. Douglas’s work propagated an Emersonian ideology while Jacobs was a sentimental, domestic novel. In his narration Douglas was the hero asserting his individual morality to a vile society while Jacobs story emphasized on family, modesty and marriage. Equiano on the other hand appealed to his audience through Christianity (Taylor 2).In the speech “A house divided”, Lincoln was of the view that the issue of slavery had to be resolved once and for all and in the case it would not it would lead to conflict which would not essentially divide the country completely but ensure that the country would be either all slave or all free.

In the dedication at Gettysburg, Lincoln refers to the civil war as testing the viability of a liberal nation. In his view, the outcome of the war and the war itself will prove to the world that a nation can be liberal and thrive. He conveys this in the phrase “the world will little note, nor long remember…. but will never forget….” The phrase is an emotional admiration and awe of the fallen soldiers which makes the speech more credible.In the second inaugural address Lincoln blames the war on the inability of both parties to reach a solution amicably for the war.

He also observes that both parties are so engrained in their causes that they are willing to go to war to either destroy or sustain the nation. He observes further that while the union expected to gain its interests and the government to prevent the enlargement of the union, the war surpassed their minor expectations in magnitude and duration. It is ironic however that Lincoln who condemns the war on the basis of Christianity argues that maybe the war is actually a manifestation of Gods will to give justice to those in slavery.

Nevertheless he urges the union to adopt a new mission of caring for those that have been affected by the war (Lincoln 4-245). Works Cited:Lincoln, Abraham. Works of Abraham Lincoln; Includes inaugural addresses, state of the union addresses, cooper union speech, Gettysburg address, the House divided speech, proclamation of amnesty, the emancipation proclamation and more. Mobile reference, 2009. Print.Taylor, Amy Lincoln. "Overview of American literature." Teaching African American Literature 15 November 2012. Print.