In President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he recalled the past and look toward the future (Johnson, 200). Lincoln stated, “He [God] now wills to remove [slavery], and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war” (Johnson, 201). Lincoln asserted that God imposed this dreadful and violent war on both the North and the South because He wanted to end slavery (Johnson, 201). Lincoln also suggests that God imposed this brutal war to punish each side for their wrongdoing (Johnson, 201) Did Lincoln think that God punished both sides equally? Although Lincoln suggested that God punished both sides, Lincoln believed that God punished the South more than the North because the Confederacy intended to expand the institution of
