Parting, Gratitude, and Remembrance Theme Analysis

In his Farewell Address, Abraham Lincoln expresses his gratitude for Springfield, Illinois and everyone who has made it a home for him and his family. Speaking from the train station just before departing for Washington DC, he addresses the audience as his friends. Because the city has been his home for a quarter of a century, he has personal relationships with many of the people standing before him. By openly addressing these people, Lincoln reveals his tender familiarity with the audience and establishes a warm tone that remains throughout his short speech. He speaks not only to a crowd he knows, but to a crowd he feels gratitude towards, and he pledges to remember them in his presidency. In the brief summary he gives of the milestones his family has experienced in Springfield, Lincoln suggests that if it hadn’t been for this place, he wouldn’t have grown into the man he is today. By extension, he is implying that he would not necessarily be the president-elect if he had lived elsewhere. Situating the city and its inhabitants at the center of his ascendancy, he underlines that he will never forget where his adult life and political career started out.

Besides allowing him to bid his friends and neighbors farewell, the speech allows Lincoln to say goodbye to any sense of normalcy, as he is about to transition into a much more public-facing role. Lincoln knows that, from this day onward, his life will radically change. Even if he gets the chance to return to Springfield in the future, he will never be able to return simply as a former or current resident, but as a president. Moreover, Lincoln knows that he might never have the occasion to set foot in Springfield again. This foresight drives his resolution to pay tribute to the people standing before him while the moment still allows him to do so. The sense that this is the last time Lincoln will ever speak directly to many of them contributes to the speech's sentimental mood.