Speech Analysis : Gettysburg 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.

Many people choose a side of the speech, but others will stay neutral and agree with parts of both arguments. Should people let the past be the past and not do anything else to remember how our nation became one? Or should people still celebrate the lives of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War? Some say people need to leave the land and history as it is. This means not doing anything to make people think about it. Although, people will always remember what happened at Gettysburg. In the speech it states:

In the Second Inaugural address President Abe Lincoln, clarifies that our nation needs to pull close and for what we stand for freedom and peace. In honour of the Many Veterans that died for freedom.Abe Lincoln used literary devices to persuade the American nation that to end war we have to free the slaves . He used Ethos Pathos and logos as Solid Ground to deliver his statement.

Beginning with building his credibility, Lincoln uses compassionate and relatable language in his speech to engage the audience in his purpose to show the nation’s future. He

I believe he is again focusing on preserving the country and uniting all Americans, North and South, behind the nation and reminding them of our common history. President Lincoln also refers to the dedication of the Battlefield of Gettysburg, emphasizing that this is,” a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” Clearly, Lincoln wants to remind all citizens that these thousands of casualties were for a great purpose of preserving this country, not dividing it through a Civil War.

When people think about President Lincoln, what comes to mind? Probably the Civil War, slavery, his assassination, and the Gettysburg Address, right? Well the Gettysburg Address is a historical artifact that has a huge impact on how American culture and society are today. The Gettysburg Address contributed to the Civil Rights Movement and helped Lincoln put new amendments in effect. Over the years since the speech was given, The United States has changed dramatically.

Lincoln’s speech in the Gettysburg Address lasted about two minutes and only few from the large audience comprehended what he had stated (Cochran 1). It was over so quickly that the audience lacked an applause (Cochran 1). Lincoln was very self conscious of his speeches and with a lack of an applause from the large audience, it made lincoln believe that he had failed them. Though they hadn’t understood what he meant at that moment in time, from this day forward Lincoln’s speech had become one of the best speeches in American History that gave a purpose to the nation.

Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign

In his speech, Lincoln used a passionate and inclusive tone to give the impression that they were all equal and were at risk of losing the same things. This could inspire a feeling of unity between Lincoln and the audience. “…devoted altogether to saving the Union…” (paragraph 2). In this statement, Lincoln used both diction and sentence structure to impact his audience. He used emotionally charged words such as “devoted” and “saving” to express a sense of passion. He also used long sentences that would reiterate similar ideas to help get his point across. “…to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan…” (paragraph 4). In this part of his address, Lincoln uses imagery, facts, and

Seven score and fourteen years ago, following the Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln stood in front of a crowd of approximately 1,500 people and gave a short speech. His audience included surviving Union soldiers, families of those who perished, and some politicians, all of whom gathered to consecrate the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Address, although only 271 words and lasting a mere two minutes, is one of the most well-known speeches in American history. In it, Lincoln argues that though he would like to dedicate the field to the fallen soldiers, there is no way to “add or detract” from the consecration those men gave with their blood (Lincoln). In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln uses the stasis forms of evaluation and proposal to convince his audience of the importance of the fallen soldiers. Using the rhetorical appeals of pathos, appealing to emotions of the distressed soldiers, ethos, catching the attention of his audience with both his diction and his position granting him credibility, and logos, structuring his speech in such a way as to draw in his audience, he successfully resolves his constraints while continually surrounding his argument around the exigence, the loss of life at the Battle of Gettysburg, to the target audience.

A war in which bloodshed took place between brothers, friends, and neighbors had luckily come to an end in 1865. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address occurred on May 4, 1865. In his speech, he talks about how the effects of the war will eventually fade away along with the issue of slavery. Lincoln’s speech uses rhetorical devices such as tone, diction, and imagery to create and emphasize his purpose to unite the divided country. The use of these rhetorical devices allows Lincoln to achieve the purpose of his speech, which is to reunite the nation - one nation under God.

In Lincoln’s speech he recognized the losses that the union suffered and honored the dead with his most famous speech, it was about the purpose of the soldier’s sacrifice, equality, freedom, and national unity. The speech didn’t have much effect during his lifetime, in many ways it was forgotten and lost to popular memory until the U.S. centennial in 1876, when its significance was reconsidered in light of the war’s

At the time when our country was divided and the Civil War was ongoing, a President delivered one of the most influential speeches of all time; The Gettysburg Address. On November 19, 1863, four months after the Battle at Gettysburg former President Abraham Lincoln addressed the weary soldiers, the deceased soldiers’ family members, and many other citizens that traveled far and wide to attend the dedication ceremony. The dedication was for the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Over 20,000 people were in attendance, they witnessed first had a powerful and heartfelt speech. Furthermore, it became one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. With 227 words Lincoln planted the seed in the hearts and minds of the people in attendance, with the notion of reforming the nation by discussing the Declaration of Independence, slavery, honoring the dead, dedication to the cause, and new birth of freedom. (LaFantasie 74)

The Gettysburg speech was short, sharp, powerful and one to remember. Still to this day it remains to a well known, well respected speech.

While he might have pointed a heavier finger towards the South, he reminded the audience that “all dreaded it, [and] all sought to avert it.” The country couldn’t be united if the population was constantly blaming each other. He emphasized that while the whole country might have been at fault, the cause was “localized in the southern part.” What started as a disagreement between two parts of a country turned into the bloodiest war fought in the young country’s history. “Neither party expected… the magnitude” of the war, and “neither anticipated that the cause” (which was slavery) would end “before the conflict… should cease.” Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation before the end of the Civil War, so the main cause of the war was essentially concluded before the war itself was concluded. So, in conclusion, he managed to unite the country even further by acknowledging that both the North and the South held part of the blame of the