The Gettysburg Address Essay

The Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg & The Gettysburg Address The topic of relevance that has been selected for this research paper is The Gettysburg Address. The Civil War can be considered as an intense time period for the United States in that it created a sense of divide within the boundaries of the Nation. President Abraham Lincoln’s presentation of The Gettysburg Address proves to be an important speech throughout history, because of his forward thinking point of view. This paper will present the items leading up to The Gettysburg Address including the actual Battle of Gettysburg. These two historical events forever altered history and although there was bloodshed, assisted the nation to become united. During the time frame
Slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War. It was an issue that the North hemisphere of the United States and the South hemisphere of the United States had polar opposite political stances on. The South utilized slavery to its benefit and were firm believers in slavery and believed that having slaves was their right; whereas, the North believed the complete opposite. When the right to slavery was being reviewed and attempted to be revoked, this caused a rebellion of the South and led the nation to the Civil War. The Civil War is a pivotal war that greatly affected America. One of the several battles that commenced during the Civil War time period of 1861 to 1865 was The Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg occurred after General Lee had been invaded at Fredericksburg, Virginia in which he triumphed against Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker. General Lee’s victory at this location was deemed by our text as one of his most brilliant victories. Lee then set his sights on
In November of 1863, with the bloodshed still fresh & the graves still being made, Lincoln travelled back to Gettysburg where he presented The Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony of the cemetery. According to the Library of Congress Lincoln’s speech followed a two-hour long speech by the famous orator, Edward Everett. Everett expressed his gratitude and admiration that he held for Lincoln prior to Lincoln taking the podium. As Lincoln dedicated the ceremony, his speech stemmed for approximately two minutes and contained 273 words. Although, these words were deemed to be “ludicrous” to some according to our text, The Gettysburg Address spoke towards the future. Lincoln’s memorable Gettysburg Address has been stated that “In it, he invoked the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and connected the sacrifices of the Civil War with the desire for “a new birth of freedom,” as well as the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of self-government” (History.com Staff, 2010). Lincoln addressed the 15,000 spectators solemnly and expressed that the lives of all of the soldiers that were laid to rest were to serve for a larger purpose and that it was up to the living to carry on with this movement. One of the most prominent statements made by Lincoln within The Gettysburg Address was