Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Speech In The Gettysburg Address

In Gettysburg National Cemetery, Lincoln delivered a speech which reaffirmed the values the Founding Fathers had established when the Declaration of Independence and Constitution was created. Lincoln had believed that the Civil War would end with a victory for the Union but wanted the states to realize that the United States should be unified and build on original American ideals in order to move on successfully. While delivering his speech, Lincoln used rhetorical appeals to move the audience into not giving up hope and to ensure a vision of unified United States for all citizens based on freedom and democracy. Lincoln delivered one of the most inspirational and powerful speech in American history.

The Gettysburg Address was given in the hope

Lincoln had used this location and the atmosphere in order to give his speech and inspire the audience to endure more suffering from the Civil War along with the burden of fallen soldiers. Even though it was a solemn event, Lincoln used language as a way to create a sense of unity. He never used singular pronouns, but rather plural pronouns in order to get the message of unity for not just Northerners or Southerners, but for all Americans. The speech had given the people a sense that if everyone worked together as one, those moving towards the common goal of a better United States could be achieved. “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract…It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced (Lincoln, Abraham).” The pathos used was intended to make the Union citizens dedicated themselves towards reuniting under America for things that were taken for granted, such as, freedom, democracy, and “liberty and justice for all.” These ideas dated back to the Founding Fathers and already had a place within the American people. Restating these ideas gave Lincoln and the Union the support of the people needed to persevere through a dark moment in

Lincoln had written the speech which a famous opening, “Four scores 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, Abraham)” This statement has been backed up with logos because it goes back to when the Founding Fathers was drafting the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln summed up the task he had before the Union which was to continue fighting for freedom and unity for everyone. He finished his speech was finished with the vision of a better nation, “…shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth (Lincoln, Abraham)” This ending line gave a powerful transition from the past, present, to the future, which flowed in a logical and organized way which fully showed his ideas for the