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Gettysburg Address Thesis

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The Gettysburg Address is one of the most recognizable documents in the history of the United States. It was delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA. This cemetery marks the final resting place for thousands of soldiers who were killed during the Civil War. At this time, the experiment in democracy, the United State of America, was 100 years old and had not dealt with a crisis such as this. The very existence of the country was at stake. At the time this speech was given, the Union Army, representing the North, and the Confederate Army, representing the south, were in the middle of a gruesome war. The casualties, on both sides, during the Civil War numbered 200,000. …show more content…

Lincoln’s election itself led to seven Southern states seceding from the Union. State’s rights and slavery issues divided the country and led to the Civil War. Slavery was woven into the economy of the South with ownership of slaves being a sign of social position. The North had abolished slavery, primarily, because of the immigration of low paid laborers from Europe. The struggle over whether the federal government could regulate or abolish slavery and what rights the states had in this process, led to more division in the country. The principles of democracy were put on trial during the Civil War and showed that a democracy of purely white men was not working (Divine …show more content…

The final speech was created as a result of reflecting on experiences and events that began when Lincoln was first invited to give the speech and ended when he stepped to the platform in Gettysburg (Johnson 55). The words and context began in Washington but developed over the trip to Gettysburg in as many as five different versions. .Lincoln requested and was given information about the national cemetery prior to departing from Washington so that he could speak with confidence about the battlefield. Lincoln was known for composing his speeches thoughtfully and was known as a slow writer who liked to tighten phrases and logic (Wills 28). On the morning of the Gettysburg address, Lincoln toured the battlefield and visited the grave of a friend, General Reynolds. Martin Johnson, in “Writing the Gettysburg Address”, says that the speech was created by a series of events in history based on Lincoln’s experiences (Johnson 4). One such experience that influenced Lincoln was the death of his son in 1862. His grief over the loss of his son impacted the speech in that he showed emotion about the young men who had died on the battlefield. Lincoln, in dealing with death and the natural setting of human burial, does not mourn a single soldier but talks about the birth of a nation’s life and its new birth of freedom (Wills 77). The excerpt, “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far

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