The Last Best Hope of Earth

Lincoln’s concluding remarks from his Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

One month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln wrote these still important words.

We can succeed only by concert [meaning together].

It is not "can any of us imagine better?" but, "can we all do better?"

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.

The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.

We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this.

We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We -- even we here-- hold the power, and bear the responsibility.

In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve.

We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail.

The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just -- a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.

Let’s not forget that even though our circumstances are new to our time, the underlying struggle, good versus evil, is a recurring theme. This means we have many who have gone before us who we can look to for profound wisdom and insight.