Harriman Beepat        

Prof. B Murdaco

POL 166

December 3^rd 2013

 Assignment Due 12/3: Choose a passage from the Gettysburg Address or the Second Inaugural Address. Write out the passage and interpret its meaning and explain why you chose it.

“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.”

An atheist I am not! But I am not religious either. The suffering that goes on today and in the past is inconceivable. My choice for this assignment, reflect my feelings about slavery, not only in this country, but worldwide. How can someone subject another to his will of total subservience?  Has anyone, after reading about slavery, wondered if there is a God? Such suffering and hardship, with seemingly no end in sight for these unfortunate souls. First the Native Americans, then the indentured whites and finally the stolen Africans, for two hundred and forty six years, this barbaric and savage institution existed. Finally in 1865, Lincoln emancipated all people in bondage and spoke about it, with reference to the bible. In his speech, he was trying to reconcile the two sides by reminding them that they were all Christians who believe in the same God. Both people in bondage and owners thought God as they perceived him to be, was on their side, and even though both sides suffered tremendously in the Civil War, ultimately, the sin of slavery was purged and that was the underlying consideration for the war.