Final answer:
President Lincoln's inaugural address primarily uses appeals to the audience's emotion and sentiment to foster reconciliation and unity amongst a nation on the brink of Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The passage from President Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address is developed primarily through appeals to the audience's emotion and sentiment. The president provides assurance regarding existing states' slave-holding rights, emphasizing his intention not to interfere, while also strongly rejecting secession and underlining the enduring nature of the Union.
Lincoln's speech culminates in a heartfelt plea for unity, appealing to the shared history and bonds of affection between the citizens of the nation, signified by the mystic chords of memory and the better angels of our nature.
This appeal to common feelings and the notion of a collective national spirit was aimed to inspire hope and bring about reconciliation in a deeply divided country.
When Lincoln mentioned that "We are not enemies, but friends...Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection", he was reaching out to the hearts and minds of his fellow Americans, both in the North and the South, to preserve the Union and avoid the impending conflict of the Civil War.