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Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices

Decent Essays

Kylie Lipscomb

Mrs. Meisel

English III AP

January 9, 2015

Gettysburg Address Analysis

On the 19th day of November of 1863, Abraham Lincoln, the President of The Union, delivered a 63 second motivational speech longing to preserve the union towards the soldiers and families of loved ones that would soon uphold the position of democracy.

Even though Lincoln’s speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is the speech that everyone remembers, Lincoln was not the featured speaker that day. That honor went to Edward Everett. Everett and Lincoln had went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to dedicate a national cemetery. Sadly, the U.S. needed one due to the high death rate of the civil war. Everett, a former senator and the former president of Harvard college, was known as a wonderful speaker. He gave a powerful speech that day and addressed the crowd for more than 2 hours. Lincoln’s speech was not nearly that long. The Gettysburg Address …show more content…

Lincoln drew from the Declaration of Independence when he stated that the nation was based on the idea that “all men are created equal”. While that may not seem very controversial today, it was a radical idea in the time period of 1863. The Constitution stated nothing about equality. Lincoln was trying to imply that it was the Declaration of Independence that the Founding Fathers had signed; not the Constitution. It was a message to confederates who liked to point out that the Constitution did not prohibit slavery.

Throughout President Lincoln’s speech, he carries himself to be a persuasive speaker. He leads us to the concept that all men are created equal. He refers to the constitution and delivers the thought that a win for union is necessary to prevail a democracy. Lincoln has the encouragement to push through to continue fighting. He leads us to know that these deaths will not be in

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