Maddy Schiller

Paper 12

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most persuasive and effective speakers in United States
history. His abilities were clearly evident in his time serving as President, and his persuasive
nature eventually allowed him to accomplish his goal of abolishing slavery. In Lincolns
Revolution, Ralph Lerner argues that it is clear that Lincoln utilized many different tactics in
order to achieve this goal, and his view of his audience had a significant impact in the methods
that he chose to use to most effectively garner respect and confidence from his audience.
Lincoln was aware, firstly, that any speaker must first flatter his audience and develop a
means for connecting with them and making them feel that they are equals with the speaker.
Lincoln worked to persuade the public to criticize and challenge the opinions that others have
presented to them. Lincoln further argued that no policy that is not based on a philosophical
public opinion could be maintained. In contrast, Douglas works to mold public opinions so that
the citizens are no longer concerned about whether slavery is voted for or against.
As is the case in all arguments, Lincoln was aware that persuasion would be the
cornerstone and key to his argument. However, Lincolns methods of persuasion appeal to
thoughtfulness rather than to the weaknesses and lapses in thought that other politicians may
typically appeal to. Lincoln becomes one with his audience and attempts to point them toward
the policy that best aligns with his view of justice, which in this case is the abolishing of slavery.
Lincoln furthers his persuasion by relating the issue of slavery back to the beliefs and values held
by the Founding Fathers at the time of the revolution. Lincoln states that all political beliefs
should stem from the Declaration of Independence, which essentially leads the public to a reevaluation of its own beliefs and actions.
The Founding Fathers fought for equal rights for all men and, although they did not
themselves abolish slavery, they clearly believed and expected that slavery would necessarily end
in the near future. The Founding Fathers clearly outlined the evils and inequalities of slavery, and
they accounted for the circumstances that prevented them from achieving the true equality for all
men which they sought. Lincoln presents the Founding Fathers not as examples to be exactly
followed, but as principles to be obeyed and held through future generations. Lincoln argues that
Douglas is working to take away the fundamental right of African-Americans to even strive to be
a man, and in turn Lincoln asks the public to return to the promise of the Founding Fathers of
freedom for all men.
Many of the issues that Lerner addresses in this chapter are still relevant in our modern
world. Many Americans today are still concerned with the ensuring of Constitutional rights for
all citizens, an issue which has been raised in response to a disproportionate criminal justice
system and a growing gap between lower and upper income classes. These disparities have
created massive divides within the United States, which have only furthered a polarization of the
political party system and of the government as a whole. Although slavery has been abolished for
over a hundred years now, it is clear to me that equality between races, and all men, has not been
achieved, and therefore the goals of the Founding Fathers have not been met.

This leads to the question of what work the citizens of the United States need to complete
in order to remove or at least minimize the effects of the inequalities in our country. Lerner
outlines Lincolns methods for convincing others to agree with him, which may be useful as
tactics for resolving similar issues of inequality in our modern world. However, the introduction
of the media and the Internet has resulted in complications to the methods that Lincoln
implemented when he worked to abolish slavery. The media manipulates and selectively presents
information in a way that can destroy the meaning of an original argument fundamentally. This
creates a distinct problem in the ability of politicians and leaders in the United States to connect
to their audience and to interact with the public; something that Lincoln argues is fundamental to
the success of an argument. If the politicians are not able to put themselves on the same level as
the public, then the public is less likely to interact more directly with the government and the
citizens will feel less like they have the power to alter or change the course of political action.
When addressing the Founding Fathers, Lerner answers a common counter-argument
opposing Lincolns view that the Founding Fathers fully intended for slavery to become
abolished in the future. Lerner states that although the Founding Fathers did not themselves
abolish slavery, they condemned the action and clearly stated the roadblocks that prevented them
from outlawing the practice at that time. Rather than agreeing with or allowing the practice of
slavery, Lerner argues, the Founding Fathers simply delegated its outlaw to future generations of
government who might have better luck in abolishing the practice as the society changed and
developed over time. In this way, there may be many issues in our modern world that are not
directly addressed or outlawed by our government, even though the leaders and politicians
clearly oppose the practice. This is because there are simply too many issues that we face on a
day to day basis in our world, and there is a necessity in determining which of these issues are
the most pressing and which deserve the attention of the public and of the government first and
foremost.
However, I would argue that fundamental rights should always be at the forefront of
government action. As Lincoln argued, no political action should come about if the statements
made in the Declaration of Independence do not support it. I would argue that no political action
can truly be valued and respected by the people if the citizens themselves do not feel that they
are ensured their fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Once the peoples fundamental rights are fulfilled, and only then, are they able to look beyond
themselves and consider the benefits that some changes may have on society as a whole.