Gettysburg Address Rhetoric Analysis

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 battle was a major turning point for the Union, but was also a devastating battle because there were over 50,000 casualties. On November 19th, 1863 during the dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, “The Gettysburg Address.” Lincoln addresses his speech to a whopping audience of 15,000 people. Those 15,000 people consist of family and friends of the deceased soldiers, Union, and activists. His speech is only 272 words and less than three minutes long ,but is able to appeal to the audience. In “The Gettysburg Address,” Lincoln uses the rhetorical strategies allusion, formal diction, anaphora, antithesis, and parallelism to achieve his purpose to honor the soldiers who gave their lives and to remind the nation to keep fighting for liberty and equality that was constructed by the Declaration of Independence.

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

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.

One of the most widely quoted and upheld speeches of all time was the “Gettysburg address” given by Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863. To completely understand the speech and why it was written the way it was you would first need to understand the history of Abraham Lincoln himself. Also needed, would be to understand the specific writing styles and words commonly used in that day and age. The style in particular was largely adapted from ancient Greek literature and Rhetoric. This was widely taught in schools during the 1800’s and most is still taught today. This style and word usage was used by many authors of that time, such as Frederick Douglas to which I will refer to in later parts of this work.

The American Civil War is, to date, the bloodiest and the most real war in the eyes of American citizens, with every battle raging in American back yards and farm fields. This great war of ours holds battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, and Stones River all known for being exceptionally violent and casualty heavy. However, none of these can compare when it comes to the amount lives lost or importance to the outcome of the war itself as the Battle of Gettysburg; the three day engagement fought between the North-bound men of Robert E. Lee’s confederates and the union soldiers under Meade’s command.

The fifteenth President of the United States Abraham Lincoln, in his speech, the “Gettysburg Address”, addresses the hardship of war to a regime dwindling in spirit. Lincoln’s Address was presented as a way to rally a country ravaged and divided by war and political disagreements. He creates a tone of inspiration in order to relate to his audience, whom had been weary from the events of the Civil War.

“Fourscore and seven years ago” (Gettysburg Address) are the famous first words of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The Gettysburg Address was an epideictic discourse given in honor of the fallen soldiers in the Civil War. The address itself is very ceremonial due to the fact that it commemorates the brave efforts of the soldiers who had been fighting. The main purpose of an epideictic argument is to praise someone and Lincoln’s address does just that. He states in his speech “the brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract” (Gettysburg Address). Lincoln discusses the plethora of virtues that these soldiers possessed in the midst of war.

As sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in his speech, the Gettysburg Address, establishes that America needs to come together to fix its wounds. Lincoln’s purpose is to explain the fact that although during the time of the Civil War and America’s weakness, if we banded together as one nation, we can fix everything that was haywire in the country. He adopts a sympathetic tone in order to move the audience and sway their decisions in teaming up.

In the year 1863, Abraham Lincoln a well-educated president who wrote and delivered, “The Gettysburg Address” that was dedicated to one of the bloodiest battles during the civil war, at the official dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg. Although he wasn’t the official orator for the ceremony that day his speech will go down as one of the most important American speeches in history. His speech wasn’t the longest but had a lot of thought given in to it. The main purpose of the speech was intended to show principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and to show the people of America that it would be our responsibility to defend and live up to the great task. Ensuring that we would live up to the great task Abraham Lincoln said, “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” in other words it would be the livings job now to keep the freedom coming. The speech talks about how a “new birth of freedom” will be for the nation and how we should give thanks for the brave soldiers who died for us. We shall Never forget what they did for us

The occasion for this speech authored by President Lincoln known as the Gettysburg Address, was a long and bloody American Civil War where southern states has sought succession from the United States of America. Engaging over 157,000 men in one of the largest battles of the American Civil War, with over a 32% causality rate over 50,000 men. Although, the Union forces won this battle providing a turning point in their favor the violence and tragedy

On November 19, 1863, the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, arrives at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to deliver his,“Gettysburg Address" speech. He used this speech to encourage American soldiers and citizens to keep fighting and to honor the soldiers who were killed in battle. Lincoln shows unity and encouragement in his speech, using meaningful syntax and diction to seem trustworthy and respectable to his audience during a time of war.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln stated, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal.” Lincoln believed slavery to be abhorrent. In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing, “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The Gettysburg Address and the Proclamation were steps toward a new nation freed from slavery. On December 1865, the 13th Amendment made slavery illegal throughout the United States. African Americans faced more struggles after the adoption of the 13th Amendment, such as: discrimination, segregation, poor wages,

“We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.” Abraham Lincoln spoke this during the time the Civil War had ended. There were several major events that helped spark the Civil War; Uncle Tom’s Cabin, John Brown’s Raid, Lincoln’s Election, and the Battle at Fort Sumter. The

In my opinion, it is important to pay attention to famous speeches because they show different perspectives. Speeches show different point of views to certain situations whether it is something you agree with or not. When Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address many people tuned in and not only people who agreed with him. Lincoln’s speech was intended to positive and reassuring to his audience. I believe that one reason Lincoln’ speech was memorable was because of it’s timing. Lincoln addressed a mourning nation just after the Battle of Gettysburg. Although Lincoln’s speech was only 272 words he used different techniques to make it seem complex. Instead of saying 87 years ago, Lincoln said “Four score and seven years ago.” This is