A Rhetorical Analysis Of Gettysburg's Address

Seven score and nine years ago, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United States of America, set off for Gettysburg in order to consecrate Gettysburg National Cemetery. In an uncharacteristically short speech-at least for the 1860s-Lincoln was able to reaffirm the values our Founding Fathers had laid down in the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution, and painted a vision of a unified United States where freedom and democracy would be the rule for all citizens. Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first is to bring remembrance to the principals and morals for which the United States was built upon, second is to honor the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg and consecrate the land upon which they stood and finally was to sway those attending into giving their “…last full measure of devotion-” to ensure a nation that would remain built upon the concepts of liberty and democracy and continues to gain support for the cause of the war.. Seeking only to honor the dead and inspire the living, Lincoln ended up delivering one of the most powerful speeches in American-if not world-history.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in American history. The History Place indicates that on November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln went to a battle field positioned in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where three dreadful days of battle occurred called the Battle of Gettysburg. While he was attending the battle field to dedicate it as a national cemetery, he read his speech to the public. After the main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered his speech that lasted about two hours, it was Lincoln’s turn. Everyone was shocked that it only lasted a little over two minutes. The speech talked about the men who fought in the Civil War to help create the nation people have today: that it is only fair to honor them

The tone and stage are set with the background of the great battle field of Gettysburg’s. Our nation is involved in a great civil war between its brothers with two different views and divisions. President Lincoln has the daunting task as the President of the United States to bring healing to this torn country; to remind the country that it was only 87 years earlier that this young country started on its great experiment. The thesis statement answers the question and reminds the audience that all men are created equal and that the basis on which our country was founded on was liberty and equality.

In the third paragraph, President Lincoln stresses the important point that the words of his speech cannot actually bless or make holy the Battlefield of Gettysburg. Rather, he indicates the bravery of the men, both living and dead, has already made the ground of the battlefield sacred. Again, Lincoln is honoring the actions of all the soldiers, Union and Confederate, and trying to unite the nation instead of dividing it.

Abraham Lincoln states that “all men are created equal,” to show that this war was to put out the image that every man should not be treated differently from one another. Lincoln uses the quote to show that he believes in equality and unification because those men who went to fight in the war came together to gain freedom and equality and the citizens should not let the people who fought die in vain. He also proclaims “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”, which discloses the fact that the people who fought

In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln concisely stated the message in which our country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. He states the significance of the battle in were, many made the ultimate sacrifice while standing up for this ideals reminding us that although words can often be forgotten, the actions of those brave ones will never be forgotten. He too mentions the responsibility we all share to continue the legacy of those who died in the battle.

He states that the Civil War tested weather a nation with the standards and principals of the United States would make it. He dedicates the ground that the solders died on the great battle which they had just fought and stated that the solders would not be buried, but instead left were they fell in battle. Lincoln then tell the troops not the let the brave men who died’s deaths to have been in vein. He then says that the country shall have a new birth of freedom and that the United

President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address clearly shows the cause for which the Union soldiers and officers bravely fought. The equality and freedom they fought for are easily misunderstood but not by President Lincoln. The equality he spoke of does not mean that each individual is completely the same, making their capability equal. Instead, it means that no individual is valued more than another because every citizen has the same value under God.

The tone of this speech was prideful and convicted. Abraham Lincoln describes the soldiers as “brave” and that they have honored the land their bodies had been strewn upon far more than the men who dug their graves and create a national cemetery had. His pride in his men is most evident when he states that they must dedicate their time to finishing the war the soldiers had “so nobly advanced.” He also shows a sense of conviction, and tries to persuade the audience that it is imperative they win the war so that “these dead shall not have died in vain” and that they ensure “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom”. He is trying to convince his audience that the only way to ensure

The Gettysburg address was not so much focused on an issue or debate. When Lincoln started writing this speech, its intention was to be in memory, devotion and honor to those who died, and also to declare the ground as a cemetery. He says “We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might

One rhetorical device that Lincoln utilizes in “The Gettysburg Address” is allusions to the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln references this document when he says, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” (Lincoln). Lincoln means that in 1776, the founding fathers of America drafted the Declaration of Independence, stating that all men are created equal. This allusion helps Lincoln’s audience to connect to the speech, as the Declaration of Independence is a well known writing in American history. Furthermore, the use of this reference reminds the audience of what they are fighting for, as all men were not treated equal during the Civil War. Lincoln’s use of allusions contributes to his meaningful theme in “The Gettysburg Address.”

Abraham Lincoln is arguably one of the United States greatest presidents and is well-known for writing one of the most iconic literary pieces in American history, the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is an outstanding 272-word oration, meant to have been a “few appropriate remarks” (Wills), yet it is considered to be one of the greatest speeches ever written, and rightly so. However, Lincoln was not the only one that gave a Gettysburg Address at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, nor was he “the star of the show” (Emberton). Today, many have forgotten the name of Edward Everett and the importance and value of his Gettysburg Address. Edward Everett was chosen as the main speaker at the ceremony and gave a 2-hour oration, preceding Lincoln’s 2-minute dedicatory remarks, that was highly praised among critics and the audience. Everett’s qualifications, his message within his speech, and his overall purpose have greatly contributed to the value of his Gettysburg Address. Today, it is clear to see that Lincoln’s Address has overshadowed Everett’s Address, but that wasn’t the case in 1863. The question left to answer, should Everett’s Gettysburg Address be considered just as valuable and praiseworthy as Lincoln’s speech?

In his speech, Lincoln first sets the topic of how not that long ago that all men are created equal. This statement was said after the civil war that killed about ten thousand Americans. At this time that meant a lot because the civil war was at its worst. Lincoln continues by discussing that even though this civil war was one of the worst but that it needed to be fought.

These bereaved soldiers, had given a lot to the land, they sacrificed all they had in defending it. Lincoln mentioned that the soldiers aforementioned had already given their life to the land and it was even beyond their abilities to do this, but that it was the right thing to do. They had performed heroic acts, and for this cause even if the speech were to be forgotten, their acts could never be. It was as a result of their noble actions, that they were all able to stand there. It was therefore “for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus so far nobly advanced”(Abraham Lincoln, 774). He encouraged them to be ready to carry on with the good works; these noble and humble men have already

During his speech he had said “A new birth of freedom”, which he meant the equality of us humans, he used the example of the Civil War to bring his point across. He mentioned how the soldiers have sacrificed their lives for the United States to make sure America’s Democracy stayed strong. Can you imagine being shot and the last thing you are going to see is your best friend trying to take you to safe place and you see him get shot up as well and some soldiers see you guys down but won’t come and help you, imagine how hard that would be. When Lincoln received the invitation to speak at the Gettysburg battlefield he took a trip to Gettysburg to get there the night before on a special train, there is a myth about when he was on his way he was planning to speech to read on a piece of envelope. He didn’t think the speech was going to be memorable but all he wanted was for everyone to remember the fallen soldiers that put their lives into the battle, which they did remember them which is why they created the Gettysburg cemetery.