{"id":971,"date":"2013-06-29T12:23:15","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T12:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=971"},"modified":"2016-06-20T14:05:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T14:05:07","slug":"farewell-address-february-11-1861","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/farewell-address-february-11-1861\/","title":{"rendered":"Farewell Address (February 11, 1861)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing Editors for this page include Michelle Grasso and Brenda Klawonn<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#64<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/40445\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;My friends&#8212;No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/today_in_history?q=panel\/this_date\/1861-02-11\">HD Daily Report, February 11, 1861<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&amp;day=1861-02-11\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, February 11, 1861<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Close Readings<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.quora.com\/Michelle-Grasso\/Posts\/Close-Reading-2-Farewell-Address-February-11-1861\" target=\"_blank\">Michelle Grasso, &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; blog post (via Quora), October 1, 2013<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pzvb4nKC-SQ\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Posted at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pzvb4nKC-SQ\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a> by Brenda Klawonn, Understanding Lincoln participant, Fall 2013<\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=39.8012,-89.641474&amp;spn=0.005869,0.01134&amp;iwloc=0004e0728490f892e1f02\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3557\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-11.08.58-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-02-22 at 11.08.58 PM\" width=\"484\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-11.08.58-PM.png 692w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-02-22-at-11.08.58-PM-300x272.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=39.8012,-89.641474&amp;spn=0.005869,0.01134&amp;iwloc=0004e0728490f892e1f02\" target=\"_blank\">View in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cTrembling with suppressed emotion and radiating profound sadness, he slowly and distinctly delivered his eloquent remarks: \u2018My friends\u2014No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feelings of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe every thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before my greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend, I bid you an affectionate farewell.\u2019 \u2018We will do it; we will do it,\u2019 responded many in the crowd, who, like the speaker, had tears in their eyes. An editor of the <em>Illinois State Journal <\/em>called it \u2018a most impressive scene. We have known Mr. Lincoln for many years; we have heard him speak upon a hundred different occasions; but we never saw him so profoundly affected, nor did he ever utter an address which seemed to us so full of simple and touching eloquence, so exactly adapted to the occasion, so worth of the man and the hour. Although it was raining fast when he began to speak, every hat was lifted, and every head bent forward to catch the last words of the departing chief.\u2019 The New York <em>World<\/em> commented that nothing \u2018could have been more appropriate and touching,\u2019 while the Chicago <em>Press and Tribune <\/em>accurately predicted that it \u2018will become a part of the national history.\u2019 Lincoln\u2019s friend, Chicago Congressman Isaac N. Arnold, told his House colleagues that there was \u2018not a more simple, touching, and beautiful speech in the English language.\u2019 After Lincoln took leave of his family and entered the car, the crowd gave three cheers and then stood silent as the train slowly pulled away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=ldfcBd_-O8QC&amp;lpg=PT978&amp;dq=My%20friends%E2%80%94No%20one%2C%20not%20in%20my%20situation%2C%20can%20appreciate%20my%20feeling%20of%20sadness%20at%20this%20parting.&amp;pg=PT978#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume 1<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was raining now, but the <em>Illinois Journal <\/em>reporting the event, said \u2018every hat was lifted, and every head bent forward to catch the last words of the departing chief,\u2019 and as he finished \u2018there was an uncontrollable burst of applause.\u2019 A young observer wrote in his diary that day that an \u2018audible good bye &amp; God speed followed him as the train disappeared.\u2019 The <em>Journal<\/em> called it \u2018a most impressive scene. We have known Mr. Lincoln for many years; we have heard him speak upon a hundred different occasions; but we never saw him so profoundly affected nor did he ever utter an address, which seemed to us as full of simple and touching eloquence, so exactly adopted to the occasion, so worthy of the man and the hour.\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;John C. Waugh,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=kAhBah9dFmwC&amp;lpg=PT290&amp;dq=My%20friends%E2%80%94No%20one%2C%20not%20in%20my%20situation%2C%20can%20appreciate%20my%20feeling%20of%20sadness%20at%20this%20parting.&amp;pg=PT291#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s Road to Civil War<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\">NOTE TO READERS<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">February 11, 1861<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">My friends&#8212;No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe every thing. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing Editors for this page include Michelle Grasso and Brenda Klawonn Ranking #64 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8220;My friends&#8212;No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting.&#8221; On This Date HD Daily Report, February 11, 1861 The Lincoln Log, February 11, 1861 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10855],"tags":[10866,10881,10879,10887,10861,26],"class_list":["post-971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-railsplitter","tag-antebellum","tag-autobiographical","tag-family","tag-founders","tag-public","tag-speech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4451,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions\/4451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}