Why does this site appear as text-only?

Words & Speeches

Loading...

Many consider Abraham Lincoln the most eloquent President our country has ever known. 

Public speakers for decades have tried to copy his style.

Across the country—and across the world—children still commonly recite his Gettysburg Address, considered one of the best speeches in the English language.  His words nearly cover the walls of the gigantic memorial in his remembrance.

Considered plain among his peers, Abraham Lincoln surprised citizens and intellectuals with his proficiency with a pen. Through the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Address, and others, the president used his words to hold our divided country together.

His words have bound up “the nation’s wounds” and comforted us in times of heartache and pain.  He has inspired to strive for the “better angels of our nature.”

Click on the links below to read Abraham Lincoln’s words.  Additional letters and speeches from Lincoln can be found here.

 

''A House Divided'': Speech at Springfield, Illinois

June 16, 1858

 
A Plea for Compensated Emancipation

March 1862

 
Address at Independence Hall

February 22, 1861

 
Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

September 30, 1859

 
Address to the 166th Ohio Regiment

August 22, 1864

 
Announcement Concerning Terms of Peace

July 18, 1864

 
Appeal to Border State Representatives to Favor Compensated Emancipation

July 12, 1862 

 
Cooper Union Address

February 27, 1860

 
Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863

 
Farewell Address

February 11, 1861

 
First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois

August 21, 1858

 
First Inaugural Address

March 4, 1861

 
First Political Announcement, March 1832

March 9, 1832

 
Fragment on Slavery

July 1, 1854

 
Instructions to Secretary of State William H. Seward

January 18, 1865

 
Last Public Address

April 11, 1865

 
Letter to Albert G. Hodges

April 4, 1864

 
Letter to Alexander H. Stephens

December 22, 1860

 
Letter to Erastus Corning and Others

June 12, 1863

 
Letter to General John McClernand

January 8, 1863

 
Letter to General Ulysses S. Grant

July 13, 1863

 
Letter to Governor Michael Hahn

March 13, 1864

 
Letter to Henry Raymond

December 18, 1860

 
Letter to Horace Greeley

August 22, 1862

 
Letter to James C. Conkling

August 26, 1863

 
Letter to John Gilmer

December 15, 1860

 
Letter to Joseph Hooker

January 26, 1863

 
Letter to Lyman Trumbull

December 28, 1857

 
Letter to Mrs. Bixby

November 21, 1864

 
Letter to Nathaniel P. Banks

August 5, 1863

 
Letter to Thurlow Weed

March 15, 1865

 
Letter to William T. Sherman

August 19, 1864

 
Lyceum Address

January 27, 1838

 
Message to Congress, December 1, 1862

December 1, 1862

 
Message to Congress, December 3, 1861

December 3, 1861

 
Message to Congress, December 6, 1864

December 6, 1864

 
Message to Congress, December 8, 1863

December 8, 1863

 
Political Debates Between Lincoln and Douglas, 1858

October 13, 1858

 
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

March 13, 1862

 
Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day

March 30, 1863

 
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

December 8, 1863

 
Proclamation of Thanksgiving

October 3, 1863

 
Proclamation Revoking General Hunters

May 9, 1862

 
Protest in the Illinois Legislation on the Subject of Slavery
 
Religious Views: Letter to the Editor of the Illinois Gazette

August 11, 1846

 
Reply to Committee Notifying Lincoln of His Renomination, June 1864

June 1864

 
Response to a Serenade

February 1, 1865

 
Second Inaugural Address
 
Special Session Message, July 4, 1861

July 4, 1861

 
Speech at Kalamazoo, Michigan

August 27, 1856

 
Speech at Peoria, Illinois October 16, 1854

October 16, 1854

 
Speech In The House Of Representatives on General Taylor And The Veto, 1848

1848

 
Speech On Declaration Of War On Mexico, 1848

January 12, 1848

 
Telegram to General Joseph Hooker

June 14, 1863

 
Temperance Society, February 22, 1842

February 22, 1842

 
The Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863

 
Unsigned Memorandum Given to J.A. Campbell, April 5, 1865

April 5, 1865