The Gettysburg Address is without a doubt one of the most famous speeches in American history. However, at the time, it was simply an uplifting, motivational speech by the sitting president as part of a ceremony dedicating the Gettysburg Battlefield as a National Cemetery. Now, it is viewed as an historic address delivered by one of the greatest presidents and orators to ever live, Abraham Lincoln. It has also become the benchmark for speeches today and is the subject of many articles, talks, and books alike. Naturally, many speakers and authors offer a similar type of insight that one might have considered or encountered previously. In Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills offers an original perspective on the Address by arguing his belief that President Abraham Lincoln gave America “a new birth of freedom” with his famous words at the Gettysburg battlefield.
Wills breaks apart his argument into five chapters, all tying back to the idea of a “remaking” of America. The second chapter, “Gettysburg and the Culture of Death,” describes mostly how the setting for the Address played a key role in the power of Lincoln’s speech. Herb Brooks, coach of the “miraculous” 1980 United States Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, told his team, “Great moments are born from great opportunities.” For Lincoln, the opportunity could not have been much greater. In seemingly his nation’s darkest hour, he was able resurrect the country from the heart of the war. The tragedy that occurred at Gettysburg was a building block that Lincoln needed to connect with his audience. He was able to draw on the loss of his son Tad to add an emotional connection to the Address adding another layer to it. In addition, the grave layout at the newly created National Cem...
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... Lincoln is not there. The Constitution is designed to govern the people while still allowing the people to be free. America is not bound by the limits of her own constitution from a reconstruction similar to the one that occurred after the Civil War, but rather she is bound by the limits of her leaders who are responsible for guiding the nation through good times and through bad. In Lincoln’s words, a “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” He knew that a democracy is the best and only just way to govern a people and he captures this sentiment with, perhaps, the most famous line from his most famous address. That truth still holds today and given the crucial spark, the people of America will be able to complete another major reconstruction at least seven score and eight years after Lincoln’s pivotal Address.
The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln in the November following the Battle of Gettysburg acted as a call to arms. This speech gave the North a sense of pride and reassured them that they did have a chance at winning the Civil War. In The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln tells the audience not to let the men who died in the battle die in vain he tells them that their dedication will lead to a “new birth of freedom” in the nation(document D). This newly found sense of pride and hope led confidence which was something that the Confederate army was lacking at the
The American Civil War not only proved to be the country’s deadliest war but also precipitated one of the greatest constitutional crises in the history of the United States. President Lincoln is revered by many Americans today as a man of great moral principle who was responsible for both preventing the Union’s dissolution as well as helping to trigger the movement to abolish slavery. In retrospect, modern historians find it difficult to question the legitimacy of Lincoln’s actions as President. A more precise review of President Lincoln’s actions during the Civil War, however, reveals that many, if not the majority, of his actions were far from legitimate on constitutional and legal grounds. Moreover, his true political motives reveal his
The speaker began by having his audience run to Gettysburg, a location of significance to his speech. Throughout his speech, Coach Boone refers to the Battle of Gettysburg, using imagery to help the boys visualize the event that occurred on the very ground they are standing upon. One of the most evident uses of this is, “This green field right here was painted red, bubblin’ with the blood of young boys, smoke and hot lead pourin’ right through their bodies.” The Battle of Gettysburg is a testimony to the point Coach Boone is trying to make. He wants the players to picture this horrific scene, and understand the severity of the event hoping their fear is enough to drive them to change their ways.
“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 battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” His use of anaphora by repeating the words “we”, “nation”,and “dedicate” to give emphasis on unity. Juxtaposition is also used in the last line by comparing the soldiers dying to be able to give the nation 's ability to live on. By choosing the words “final resting place” Lincoln and his audience is literally standing on the soldier 's final resting
At 7:30am, on Wednesday, July 1st, 1863, at the intersection of Knoxlyn Rd and US Rt. 30 Chambersburg Pike, a shot was fired by Lieutenant Marcellus Jones. This shot would not be forgotten, as it was the beginning of what would turn into one of the biggest turning points of the Civil War; The Battle of Gettysburg. This three day streak of combat would later be referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion.” With the outcome being an overall Union victory, the Battle of Gettysburg would mark the point at which the Union would place the Confederacy on the defensive and end General Robert E. Lee’s most ambitious attempt to seize Union territory. The Battle of Gettysburg was so critical, in fact, that it lead to one of the most vital documents written in United States history, the Gettysburg Address. How exactly did this battle guide President Abraham Lincoln to write the Gettysburg Address is a common question among many.
Lincoln’s Famous Address written by Roselynn Marquez talks about how Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was only 270 words, and it followed a two hour introduction by Edward Everett. Being short was not the only memorable point that the speech had. “Another was the simplicity of its language. As historian Allen Guelzo notes, ‘the address relies on crisp, plain vocabulary.’ He points out that most of the words are only one-syllable. Doris Kearns Goodwin concludes, ‘Lincoln had translated the story of his country...into words and ideas accessible to every American.’ By making his ideas easy to grasp, Lincoln gave them directness and power” (Marquez). The Gettysburg Address to this day is known as a unforgettable expression inscribing the war that took on in the country. In summarization, Abraham Lincoln is known widely for the Address he made in Gettysburg after the battle that took place
Lincoln was a very smart lawyer and politician. During his “House Divided” speech he asked the question, “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently, forever, half slave, and half free?" When he first asked this question, America was slowly gaining the knowledge and realizing that as a nation, it could not possibly exist as half-slave and half-free. It was either one way or the other. “Slavery was unconstitutional and immoral, but not simply on a practical level.” (Greenfield, 2009) Slave states and free states had significantly different and incompatible interests. In 1858, when Lincoln made his “House Divided” speech, he made people think about this question with views if what the end result in America must be.
Wills, Garry. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.
One thing that Lincoln and Lee both had in common was that they wanted this civil war to be over as soon as possible. When we are reading through Lincoln’s speech you realize everything that has happened. 51,000 people died in three days. There was nowhere to put all of the body’s; nothing to do to clean the ground of all the blood that had spilled. When you really think about all the people that died at this battle it is horrific and to think that this is just one of the battles t...
On November 19, President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate it as a military cemetery. He spoke for a short period of time delivering what is called the Gettysburg Address, surprising many present in the audience with its shortness and leaving others quite unimpressed, but over time the speech has come to symbolize democracy as we know it today (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia Vol. 11 385).
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America "Fourscore and seven years ago ." These are the first 5 of only two hundred seventy-two words that remade America. In Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, the author, Gary Wills, informed us that Abraham Lincoln wanted equality among us and to unite as one. In Abraham Lincoln's own speech, he would not mention single individuals or even top officers. Everyone was considered as equal importance and was never any different. "Though we call Lincoln's text the Gettysburg Address, that title clearly belongs to Everett." 1 This is very true, which I think is interesting. Everett who was chosen by David Wills to commemorate the National Cemetery of Gettysburg, was supposed to be the speaker while Lincoln was only the dedicatory remarks speaker. Not only did Lincoln have the favorable speech, it was only three minutes while Everett's was two hours long. Lincoln also supposedly was not supposed to be there to speak; he actually just told a correspondent that he would be present. It's amazing to believe that a two hundred seventy-two word speech would say so much to thousands of people.
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 country would recognize the south as an independent nation, thus ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism.
Lincoln’s biggest main idea in ‘’The Gettysburg Address’’ is to honor the sacrifices made on the battlefield by treating everyone equal. He states we have to make sure, ‘’...that these dead shall not have died in vain…’’(Lincoln, 1) This helped develop the central idea by being the point of persuasion.
The speech “Gettysburg address” was written November 19 1863, almost four years after the first shots of the civil war happened in fort sumter . This speech was so impactful and it was only two minutes long. This two minute speech was one of many impactful speeches in history. Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech “ Gettysburg address” . During the civil war a lot of the soldiers had died. Family members were grieving over the loss of loved ones, and friends. Abraham Lincoln made this speech for the people who lost family members or loved ones in the war. This speech honored those who have fallen on the battlefield and remind those why we had a civil war. Abraham Lincoln reminded the soldiers what they were fighting for in the first place , that they can move forward from the loss of soldiers in “ Gettysburg Address “ using repetition and diction .
Abraham Lincoln wrote one of the greatest speeches in American history, known as the Gettysburg Address. It was not only used as a dedication to the fallen troops of the North and South, but as a speech to give the Union a reason to fight and attempt to unite the divided nation. The sixteenth president’s handling of his speech at Gettysburg demonstrated how the effectiveness of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, could bring unity to a nation deeply divided on beliefs. His speech touched the hearts of many and indirectly put an end to the Civil War. Lincoln may have been considered a tyrant at the time, but he was a great leader of a nation, a war, and a democracy.