Ideal American Speech

The American Ideal

Many great leaders have left their footprints in the sands of America’s history . The country itself was forged by names such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Joseph Warren. In the struggle to upkeep and redefine the American ideal, men such as these determined to sculpt their country through laws, amendments, and influential speeches. Some of the most revolutionary and thought provoking speeches of American history are Ronald Reagan’s speech, “Tear Down this Wall,”; Benjamin Franklin’s letter, “On the Faults of the Constitution”; a “Special Message to Congress Announcing the Ratification of the 15th Amendment” by Ulysses S. Grant; and “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln. The words of these speeches echo through the ages; despite mountains of technological improvements, speeches like these have laid a still-visible foundation for America’s ideology of freedom.

During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall symbolized a separation between democracy and communism. Referred to by

The battle of Gettysburg resulted in terrible losses on Confederate and Union sides. Dead men were sprawled out for miles and there was no place to bury them. The city of Gettysburg itself was reduced to a hovel. After the horror of the battle, Lincoln said that the dead men had consecrated the field as holy ground. His words are remembered for their poetic imagery, “That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln’s speech is still remembered today because it marks one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war. When they think of this speech, people remember the struggle of a splitting country. It is a memorial to the dead and a way to remember the greater purpose of freedom. As American citizens, we appreciate our freedom even more when we recall the struggles that have been endured to purchase