Lincoln and Moral Relativity

Michele Sharik
English 48A
Journal for Lincoln
September 29, 2009

"Both [sides in the Civil War] read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.... The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully."

- Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (Norton 1636)

We leave to some Emil Ludwig [a well-known biographer of the first half of the 20th century] or his ilk the drawing of Abraham Lincoln's portrait with rosy little wings. Lincoln's significance lies in his not hesitating before the most severe means once they were found to be necessary in achieving a great historic aim posed by the development of a young nation. The question lies not even in which of the warring camps caused or itself suffered the greatest number of victims. History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War.

- Leon Trotsky, "Their Morals and Ours" 1939


The Trotsky quote above is part of an essay on moral relativity written while he was exiled from the Soviet Union. In his treatise, Trotsky claims that a society's morals change with the circumstances of the times (Hume), and declares "whether something is morally supportable should depend on whether it passes that test ['the ends justify the means'] in the specific circumstances of the day, rather than according to some timeless commandments" (Hume).

In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln specifically points out the dissonance inherent in two factions each claiming God's favor for their diametrically opposed viewpoints. Lincoln seems to argue that neither side has a right to even ask for that favor and comes across as almost fatalistic, downplaying the concept of Free Will. He uses phrases such as "The Almighty has His own purposes" (Norton 1636), "through His appointed time" (1636), and "if God wills that it ['this mighty scourge of war'] continue" (1636). Lincoln even claims that the War itself is punishment from God "to both North and South... as the woe due to those by whom the offence [American slavery] came" (1636).

War is seen by many today to be of questionable morality, justified only in cases of self-defense or the necessary defense of another. Despite his belief that the War was God's punishment, Lincoln ultimately did not shy away from engaging in war, justifying it as the way to preserve the Union (self-defense) and end slavery (the necessary defense of another) (1636). This "great historic aim" (Trotsky) was ultimately considered by most to be worth the lives of the thousands of Americans who were killed.

The United States is engaged in military war on at least two fronts today. Many among us are bold to claim God's blessing on those efforts and invoke His aid against our opponents, just as both the North and the South did in the 19th century. The question of whether or not this war will ultimately prove to be God's punishment on us, or if we have our own "great historic aim" remains to be seen.

Addendum: The photo above is one of four photos of Lincoln's Second Inauguration discovered last year in the Library of Congress. The glass plates, which had been previously misidentified, were found by Carol Johnson, a curator of photography.

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