The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

1. The class will be divided into groups of three to discuss and respond to the
   homework questions.



2. Suggested enrichment:
   
1. The following document can be shared with students to bring the
   inauguration and the activities surrounding it to life:


A photograph of the Re-Inauguration of President Lincoln,
4th March, 1865 (distant view) can be found at:
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/search/ display_results.php?id=GLC05111.01.0006

2. Read George Rable's essay, "Lincoln's Civil Religion," in this issue
   of HISTORY NOW.
   
3. An additional resource for an analysis of Lincoln’s Second
   Inaugural Address can be found at:
   http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues02/ apr02/lincoln.html
   Interview with Ronald C. White Jr., author of
   Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural, 2002.
   
4. “An Inaugural Poem” dedicated to Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. Printed in the Inauguration
   Procession of Lincoln & Johnson, Chronicle Junior
   http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
   [Search for "Inaugural Poem"]
   
   Each stanza will be assigned to two students to analyze. Students will read the entire poem and then be responsible for reporting the meaning of their stanzas to the rest of the class. As part of that exercise, they will discuss how the poem frames the challenge Lincoln faced in saving the Union.
   
   
3. Students will read the following in class:
   
   Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln & Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address by Frederick Douglass
   http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/content_inside.asp? ID=38&subjectID=2
   
   The teacher will lead a discussion that focuses on the following questions:

• In what way did Lincoln make Douglass feel that he was supportive of the black race?
• What words from the inaugural address do you think impressed Frederick Douglass
  the most?

Application:

• Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper either supporting or opposing:
  1.) Andrew Johnson's Plan for Reconstruction
  OR
  2.) the Radical Reconstruction Plan.
  
• Write a newspaper editorial responding to Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.
• Create an annotated historical timeline of Lincoln’s Reconstruction policies.