“The Gettysburg Address,” a speech written by Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech states the importance of freedom and equality. Martin Luther King message to his audience In order to communicate their message of freedom and equality, Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln used allusions in their speeches. One major similarity in their use of allusions is their reference to the Constitution of Declaration of Independence. Yet, a difference is that King alludes to the Bible while Abraham Lincoln refers to the Civil War. In 1787 the Constitution of Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia by our Founding Fathers. The importance of the Constitution of Declaration of Independence is that it …show more content…
They want to inform the people about the true meaning of this quote and make it a reality, hence defining freedom and equality. A difference between both speeches is that Martin Luther King alludes to Gandhi while Lincoln refers to the Civil War. In Martin Luther King’s speech, he discusses how the citizens of America will not rest until there is citizenships rights for all. King then deeply exclaims, “ Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” To paraphrase Dr.king is telling his audience that violence is not the correct way to gain what is wanted, but fighting peacefully will make a difference. Dr.King did not believe in violence and he wanted the community to know about Gandhi’s beliefs, which was his way of protesting, and to be the contrary of Malcolm X. On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln referred to the Civil War and talked about the war as a war that will be remembered throughout the world. He goes on and states, “It is for us, the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far...it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion…” This statement reveals that
The historian David Blight says that Lincoln’s message in the Gettysburg Address was to help the people recover from the deficit from the Battle of Gettysburg and the casualties that were caused by it. Lincoln simply wants to rebuild the country.
Two well-known speeches, The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr. are very similar while having some differences. The Gettysburg Address was delivered at the dedication of the National Cemetary in 1863 and the I Have a Dream speech was delivered at the Lincoln memorial in 1963, one hundred years after Lincoln's speech. Lincoln's speech was super short unlike Martin Luther's speech. He wrote it right after the civil war to pay respect to the soldiers. On the other hand, Martin's speech was to urge congress to pass the civil rights bill. Both themes included equality but Lincolns was also about freedom.
"I Have A Dream" is a mesmerizing speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was delivered to the thousands of Americans on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. Aimed at the entire nation, King’s main purpose in this speech was to convince his audience to demand racial justice towards the mistreated African Americans and to stand up together for the rights afforded to African American under the Constitution. To further convey this purpose more effectively, King cleverly makes use of the rhetorical devices — ethos, pathos and logos — using figurative language such as metaphors and repetition as well as various other techniques e.g. organization, parallel construction and choice of title.
Today I have chosen two speeches which are critical to the growth and development that our nation has gone through. Two men from different backgrounds and different times with one common goal, equality for all. The Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” both address the oppression of the African-Americans in their cultures. Though one hundred years and three wars divide the two documents, they draw astonishing parallels in they purposes and their techniques.
union he may have lost the election. In several speeches made by Douglass he expressed "the mission of the war was the liberation of the slaves as well as the salvation of the Union. I reproached the North that they fought with one hand, while they might fight more effectively with two; that they fought with the soft white hand, while they kept the black iron hand chained and helpless behind them; that they fought the effect, while they protected the cause; and said that the Union cause would never prosper until the war assumed an anti-slavery attitude and the Negro was enlisted on the side of the Union." After the announcement of the Proclamation of Emancipation, the Governor of Massachusetts was given permission to create the regiment of
In a period of time where few were willing to listen, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood proudly, gathered and held the attention of over 200,000 people. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was very effective and motivational for African Americans in 1963. Many factors affected Kings’ speech in a very positive manner; the great emotion behind the words, delivering the speech on the steps of the memorial of the President who defeated slavery. And not only was this message beautifully written for the hope of African Americans, but the underlying message for white people, revolution and peace. To stimulate emotion from both parties of his listeners, King used a selection of rhetorical devices such as allusions to historical
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
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.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln wanted our world to be safe and have rights. Also to have justice and to stop the bloody war. King and lincoln were two similar orator who wanted to achieve almost identical goals. Lincoln was the president of the united states and the leader of anti-slavery republican party. His speech was delivered on the 19th november 1863 mat gettysburg during the great civil war. They both used emotive words engages both king and lincoln audience. Lincoln believe that their nation is under god.king fannie lou hamer and medgar evers were all important figures in the early civil rights movement. They helped to liberate african americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Lincoln wrote his speech for 2 reason. First the speech
On August 28th 1963, Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. made his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. In the speech, King confronts the mistreatment of the African American community and the lack of free will they contain in society. Throughout the mid-1900s, the Civil Rights Movement took place, influenced by centuries of cruelty towards the African Americans.. The most influential speech in the modern era was said in front of thousands of Civil Rights activists who all shared a common goal; to fight for the respect and to be treated as equals within the United States.
Martin Luther King’s speech was made after the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He delivered the “I Have a dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps. He verbalized this speech to millions of people blacks and whites. This is one of the greatest speeches because it has many elements like repetition, assonance and consonance, pathos, logos, and ethos.
In the I Have a Dream speech it quotes “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. The reader can imply from this information that Martin Luther King, Jr. hopes that in the future racism is obliterated from this earth and never seen again. The former and latter both had an intended audience for their speeches. In the Gettysburg Address it states “ Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war.” President Lincoln was telling this to the people of America if any nation can endure this civil war. The reader can imply from the information that the civil war is very harsh for a nation to endure. Furthermore, MLK,Jr. also had a great vision of America and had a targeted audience. In the I Have a Dream speech it quotes “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” The reader can garner from this message that the latter was targeting the people of America as his audience. Both speeches were for the people of America and had a great message towards them. In the
“The Gettysburg Address” and “ I Have a Dream” both share allusions to the Declaration of Independence. “The Gettysburg Address” states that,”... all men are created equal.” and describes America’s new birth of freedom, like Martin Luther ’s “I Have a Dream” speech it also states that,”... all men are created equal.”
Both the Gettysburg Address and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" address the same theme of American democracy. The purpose of the Gettysburg Address was to draw attention to how America had succeeded another attempt to make it a free country, and it honors the very basis on which America was formed. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech addresses the need for America to truly recognize all people as equal. Both speeches also make their goal completely clear. The Gettysburg address remembers the true reason for America when it 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"
From comparing these two speeches, The Gettysburg Address, by Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president, and the speech, I have a Dream, by King, you find that they had similar visions for America. In their influential speeches, they both allude to an important event in American history. Lincoln refers to 87 years, before the civil war, when the forefathers signed the declaration of independence stating that they are independent from Britain (Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln). King also refers to the past saying, "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation." In which he is talking about the Emancipation Proclamation when President Lincoln issued it 100 years ago, changing the course and making the war a fight for the preservation of human freedom. The reader indicates that they choose to allude back to a historical event because it backed their speeches up with historical evidence and proof. Furthermore, the themes of these two spectacular discussions are quite similar. For one, they talk about how there should be equality and no one should be left out. President Lincoln state's, "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." King stated that he had a dream that his children will be able to live where they won't be judged by their skin color, but by their character