Essay on the Meaning of the Gettysburg Address
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
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I believe he is again focusing on preserving the country and uniting all Americans, North and South, behind the nation and reminding them of our common history. President Lincoln also refers to the dedication of the Battlefield of Gettysburg, emphasizing that this is,” a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” Clearly, Lincoln wants to remind all citizens that these thousands of casualties were for a great purpose of preserving this country, not dividing it through a Civil War.
In the third paragraph, President Lincoln stresses the important point that the words of his speech cannot actually bless or make holy the Battlefield of Gettysburg. Rather, he indicates the bravery of the men, both living and dead, has already made the ground of the battlefield sacred. Again, Lincoln is honoring the actions of all the soldiers, Union and Confederate, and trying to unite the nation instead of dividing it.
In the last paragraph of the speech, President Lincoln is telling the American people that the proper way to honor the brave soldiers is to dedicate and devote your life to the country, one which there will be, “a new birth of freedom.” Lincoln points out this government will represent all the people, and will remain forever. President Lincoln, through this speech is trying heal the nation that is divided by the great Civil War, and offering
It was full of the history about the nation, the civil war, and a recap of the three day battle. The real purpose of this speech was to dedicate a cemetery to the fallen soldiers (“Wise Words” 1). Lincoln had said during his two minute speech was that the best way for the living to honor the dead was to continue with the cause (Wise Words 1). What lincoln had meant by a new birth of freedom was that the nation would be free for both blacks and whites. This government cannot endure a permanently half free and half slave population (Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock 1). With this being said, the speech gave universal satisfaction to the
The 16th president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, in his speech, “The Second Inaugural Address”, expresses his gratitude for the soldiers that died at Gettysburg and the importance of supporting the cause to preserve the Union. Lincoln’s purpose is to honor the lost souls of the brave me that sacrificed themselves out on that battlefield by dedicating this national cemetery and to encourage the people not to give up on the war. He adopts a strong and determined tone in order to boost citizens morale and give them hope that this war would be brought to a halt soon.
Seven score and nine years ago, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United States of America, set off for Gettysburg in order to consecrate Gettysburg National Cemetery. In an uncharacteristically short speech-at least for the 1860s-Lincoln was able to reaffirm the values our Founding Fathers had laid down in the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution, and painted a vision of a unified United States where freedom and democracy would be the rule for all citizens. Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first is to bring remembrance to the principals and morals for which the United States was built upon, second is to honor the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg and consecrate the land upon which they stood and finally was to sway those attending into giving their “…last full measure of devotion-” to ensure a nation that would remain built upon the concepts of liberty and democracy and continues to gain support for the cause of the war.. Seeking only to honor the dead and inspire the living, Lincoln ended up delivering one of the most powerful speeches in American-if not world-history.
Furthermore, in Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” speech, he begins with the famous, “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’.” A well known passage by Abraham Lincoln but holds a quote from the Declaration of Independence. “All men are created equal”. Now to give some background to the speech. Take note that Lincoln is speaking during the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery. The final resting place for more than 3,500 Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Gettysburg. On into the speech, Lincoln touches on the survival of the nation. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” He’s not only speaking to just the Union side of the war, but to both the Union and the Confederacy. Hoping that both see where the war is headed to. Gettysburg was a major turning point in the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln provides key notes to the people just in the time they needed them.
Gettysburg Address is manly about the famous speech that Abraham Lincoln gave to the people.He gave this sentence to the people to give them hope so they can keep fighting.He wanted people to get inspired by his famous speech so in the process people join the civil war to help slaves be free.He thought if it worked maybe people will keep going to win the war.In this article the speech was to support the reason there fighting for is to make the name american mean free for all.They give this hint because in the speech it was mainly about the civil war.It made solders try there best to win the
The tone of this speech was prideful and convicted. Abraham Lincoln describes the soldiers as “brave” and that they have honored the land their bodies had been strewn upon far more than the men who dug their graves and create a national cemetery had. His pride in his men is most evident when he states that they must dedicate their time to finishing the war the soldiers had “so nobly advanced.” He also shows a sense of conviction, and tries to persuade the audience that it is imperative they win the war so that “these dead shall not have died in vain” and that they ensure “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom”. He is trying to convince his audience that the only way to ensure
An entire country’s outlook of liberty has been completely altered and reassessed in the wake of a new era. In many respects, this accomplishment far surpassed the achievements of the Revolution, for not even the Founders or Framers were capable of freeing the slaves. On November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave a very important and heartfelt speech in dedication to all those in the Union army who died at Gettysburg, Pennyslyvania, now famously known as the Gettysburg Address. Here is his address in
His speech was short but mighty in words. It was to the point of what he believed should be done to honor the great men who fought and gave their life in the war. “Lincoln’s main goal that day was to dedicate the battlefield to the men who died there and to tell the nation why the Civil War was worth fighting” (Norton, 1996).
In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln concisely stated the message in which our country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. He states the significance of the battle in were, many made the ultimate sacrifice while standing up for this ideals reminding us that although words can often be forgotten, the actions of those brave ones will never be forgotten. He too mentions the responsibility we all share to continue the legacy of those who died in the battle.
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
The Gettysburg address was not so much focused on an issue or debate. When Lincoln started writing this speech, its intention was to be in memory, devotion and honor to those who died, and also to declare the ground as a cemetery. He says “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
Today, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. However, with 23,049 casualties on the Union side and 28,063 on the Confederate side, it can also be considered one of the bloodiest (Civil War Trust). Such heavy losses naturally rattled the entire nation and Americans on both sides began to question the war and what it stood for. As Americans gathered together at the consecration ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the much acclaimed orator and politician Edward Everett delivered what was meant to be the Gettysburg Address. Yet, today, it is not Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address that the world remembers, but Abraham Lincoln’s, who was invited to the ceremony almost as an afterthought. Lincoln’s 272 words helped remake America by giving hope to its citizens at a time when they were at their lowest.
However after listening to people around me trying to piece together the meaning of the speech and listening to the speech I soon found out what Lincoln was talking about. Lincoln was not only dedicating the battlefield that I was standing on, but he was reminding everyone who was listening to him that day what the soldiers were truly fighting for and what they gave their lives
That was the reason for the visit to Gettysburg. It was a trip with Edward Everett to dedicate a newly created cemetery that was must needed in the country at the time due to all the fallen during the war. President Lincoln followed Mr. Everett’s two hour speech with his two minute speech which was decided in nature to sum up what Mr. Everett just talked about. A key thing to remember in the Gettysburg address was the importance not to forget about the fallen young Soldier’s on the battle field. This is mentioned in the in the second sentence of the second paragraph “ We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live”. What the President is talking about is the importance of not just remembering the fallen but also reminding the audience of why they died. They died believing in a cause; weather it’s about uniting the country or making two separate
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