Directions: Read the following passage below. Identity the main idea, purpose and Point-of-view.
Remember, the point-of-view is the authors belief or opinion. The writing can be in the 1st, 2nd or
3rd persons point-of-view. Pay close attention to the title, dictions-meaning choice of words, and
who is "telling the story"
My Friend Douglass
by Russell Freedman
On the morning of March 4, 1865, Frederick Douglass joined a festive crowd of 30,000 spectators
at the U. S. Capitol to witness Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration. Weeks of rain had turned
Washington's unpaved streets into a sea of mud, but despite the wet and windy weather, the crowd
was in a mood to celebrate. Union troops were marching victoriously through the South. Everyone
knew that the war was almost over. When Lincoln's tall figure appeared, "cheer upon cheer arose,
bands have imagined. The "cause of the war" was slavery, Lincoln declared. Slavery was the one
institution that divided the nation. And slavery was a hateful and evil practice-a sin in the sight of
God. “This mighty scourge of war" was a terrible retribution, a punishment for allowing human
bondage to flourish on the nation's soil. Now that slavery was abolished, the time had come "to bind
up the nation's wounds" and "cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
blatted upon the air, and flags waved all over the scene." Douglass found a place for himself directly
in front of the speaker's stand. He could see every crease in Lincoln's careworn face as the president
stepped forward to deliver his second inaugural address. The Civil War had cost more than 600,000
American lives. The fighting had been more bitter and lasted far longer than anyone could have ever