The Gettysburg Address: The Struggle For Freedom

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.

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.

While the Gettysburg Address is fairly short in length at around 300 words, this famous speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1963 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is both enduring and meaningful for all Americans today, almost exactly 146 years later. The first paragraph of his speech sets the tone, in which Lincoln does not directly mention the bloody Battle of Gettysburg, in which 50,000 soldiers lost their lives. Instead, he refers in the opening phrase, “Four score and seven years ago,” to the founding of America through another important written document, the Declaration of Independence in 1776. I believe Lincoln wanted the country to focus on preserving this

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.

The Gettysburg Address was a speech composed and addressed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the time of the political fight in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. At that time, Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States. He was also the President who led America through the Civil War. During the Civil War, at Gettysburg, some soldiers died protecting the nation. This was mentioned in Lincoln’s speech, which was meant to be dedicated to the soldiers who died defending their people. He spoke of how a piece of land on Earth should be dedicated in their memory in order to show respect for dead soldiers. The Gettysburg Address was an effective way of President Abraham Lincoln communicating with the people of the United States at a time

"Without slavery, the rebellion could never have existed. Without slavery, it could not continue” (Lincoln). The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 marked the most decisive points of the Civil War, and of American history as a whole. With the stroke of his pen, Lincoln expanded the powers of the president, redefined the Unions goals in the civil war, and fortified the Republicans moral base and prominence for years to come, while rekindling morale for the Union soldiers.

In American history, there were always these amazing speakers like John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), Martian Luther King Jr and others, that would influence the people around them to strive for success, never give up because there will always be hope, and one of those speakers was Abraham Lincoln in possibly his best speech “The Gettysburg Address”. The American civil war was the bloodiest war the Unites States had ever seen roughly 620,000 soldiers died, and in that dark time people needed inspiration to rekindle the flame of hope, to have something worth fighting for and Abraham Lincoln inspired them to fight for their nation and not let those who died for the cause not die in vain. In Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address he used rhetorical appeals, Parallel structure, Contrast, and Allusion to end the American civil war, unite the north and the south to end slavery in the United States once and for all.

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.

Blood, sweat, and tears will always be shed. Maybe you will find bone or even an actual bloody body part on the very land of Gettysburg if you went back in time to the very moment of the war. July 1 to July 3, 1863, will forever go down as the bloodiest moments during the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point during the American Civil War. The American Civil War started because of the differences between the free and enslaved state. They fought over the power of the national governments to forbid slavery in the territories that have yet to become states. The South is also known as the Confederate were at war with the North also known as the Union. After the war Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, The Gettysburg Address. In his speech he mentioned that the dead who fought shall not die in vain. His speech also addresses the concept of equality and the struggle with equality.

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)

At the beginning of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was primarily focused on the preservation of the Union. It wasn’t until after the Battle of Antietam that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in rebelling states and territories. He believed that emancipating slaves made the war a moral issue and that abolition was necessary to preserve the Union. I believe that as the war went on, Lincoln not only wanted to reunify the country, but abolish slavery as well.

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

In the Gettysburg address, by Abraham Lincoln believe to have the freedom for anyone and everyone. Lincoln had a hard time during the civil war keeping the country together. He help the south come back, so that we could be a united nation for once again? Lincoln knew him as a president had to resolve all of this. So he gathered troops and went to take control. He ordered the U.S Army to blockade all main ports in the south “As soon as the Union Army went into the South, slaves began running away from plantations to northern union “Almost from the very beginning of the Civil War, the federal government had to start making policy and they said, 'Well, we're going to treat these people as free. We're not going to send them back into the slave-holding

Abraham Lincoln is known as the sixteenth president of the United States. A self-taught lawyer by trade who was born in a one room cabin in Kentucky, he came from meek beginnings. Mr. Lincoln was only known to have a few years of formal schooling he had to work to help support his family. He moved to the capital of Illinois and practiced as a lawyer. This is where he earned his nick name of Honest Abe. He was known to help the common man. He met and married a woman named Mary Todd. They had four sons. One of which passed away with Typhoid fever. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s theater on April 14, 1865 and died the very from a gunshot to the head. He never lived to see the Union win the war with the plans he helped devise. He next day is known in history for his moving speeches. Two of the main speeches are the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Both of these are remembered today as turning points in history. Honest Abe was not only our president but a leader in that he felt like he needed to protect our constitution and the rights it afforded us but also protect the Union. He was a level headed man in a time of war and conflict. He was elected to office when the Union was in a state of unrest due to the issue of slavery. Several states succeeded when he was elected to office. This set up a series of events that lead to the beginning of the civil war. The steps that he took forever changed the history of the United States.