" This idea is most likely an overgeneralization because the president sees the direction in which the war is going, and that the South is loosing battles, and running out of supplies. The president therefore has a chance to give his own opinion and not be ostracized, because the audience having heard the speech will adhere and accept that the North is winning, and that the progress really is satisfactory. The president articulates this cautiously, so as not to boast and be hated by those in support of the South. In fact, the word satisfactory is an understatement; a hyperbole, when knowing the advancement and the fortune of the North. .
Ironically, the president calls the Southern Confederates "insurgents" or in definition: rebels. The word rebels is a reasonable term to describe those who rebel, since that is their proper title, but to call these rebels insurgents, the president is really using an invective. Even today those in the south especially those who side with rebels are often called "red necks" for their racism and ethnocentrism, but to call a group of people insurgents, is another way for the president to give his opinion.
The president then uses facts to show that slaves consisted one eighth of the country's population, resided most likely in the south, and were the cause of this conflict. However the president thinks ahead and begins to take blame, because "while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement" it did not stop slavery, however the president invokes the two nations to look ahead and no keep separated. They must repent for their faults, forgive those of the other, they must then unite, put their differences behind them and trust in God for the future, for "The Almighty has his own purpose." .
As many in the audience had noticed, the president used quite a lot of allusions to the Bible, and God's "plan" in the people's lives.
