Lincoln’s address started in a gloomy tone. It seems as if he wanted to lower expectations that were being upheld by the people. Lincoln used a passive voice at the beginning of his speech which let him redirect the focus to not be on himself, but to be on the address itself. Though he did use personal pronouns in the first paragraph, it would also be the last he would use them in the speech. The paragraph showed a reserved ethos making it hard for the reader to connect to the president. The first paragraph in Lincoln’s speech was strictly all about what the speech would not be, and after he addressed that he would go on to say that he would not be making further “predictions” because he believed that they lead to false expectancy. In the first sentence, Lincoln stated that …show more content…
He wrote for both national and international audiences. The speech was written shortly before the Civil War ended when the Nation was divided. One of the main topics brought up in the writing was God himself. Lincoln said, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God…” which represents the Nation as a whole, even though they are split. Lincoln uses the image of both a Bible and God, both being religious and holy figures, to influence the audience to believe that the nation is capable of being united once more. He uses words to describe God: almighty, firm, living and caring. These are general and abstract words. Though Lincoln does talk greatly about our religious figures, he does not have much good to say towards the war. When talking about the war Lincoln uses words such as offense, terrible, unrequited toil and mainly specific or concrete. These words are polysyllabic, meaning they contain more than one syllable. He uses such words to describe diction, to make to make important words stand out and emphasize the meaning of them. By choosing specific words for his speech, Lincoln can make his content more meaningful for his
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Show MoreIn 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
34,000 people gathered around the nation’s capital to hear Abraham Lincoln give his “Second Inaugural Address”. Lincoln expressed in his address that he made his speech short because there is no time for a long one, considering the circumstances of the Civil War that they were in. His speech was only 703 words long, making it one of the shortest addresses ever (Ronald). In the “Second Inaugural Address”, Abraham Lincoln believes freedom is the ability to live life out from under the dictation of others and make choices for themselves and to do this the war had to be won and ended by the North, thus ending slavery.
In his address, Lincoln discusses slavery and the war between the North and South. This leads readers to believe he is talking to all citizens of the United States. We know he references the South when he states, “One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it” (p 3). In this quote, he directly singles out the South, but he mentions the North when he says, “It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of another men’s faces…” (p 3) This represents both the South and the North because he is asking how they can both participate in such acts, yet both ask God for assistance in helping them succeed in taking out...
He made concepts simple and communicated with an understanding of the concerns of the citizens. When the war ended and he won reelection, Lincoln did not focus on his achievements.Instead, in his second inaugural speech, Lincoln focused on bringing the country together as expressed in the following excerpt. “With malice toward none, with charity for all, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
Lincoln continues by saying “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” as if he is unsure if the nation can bounce back. Lincoln is sure to incorporate “we” so that the audience knows that even though the nation is being tested he is still a part of the nation. Also, Lincoln cleverly began his speech four score and seven years ago which places the beginning of the nation not at the Constitution but at the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America "Fourscore and seven years ago ." These are the first 5 of only two hundred seventy-two words that remade America. In Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, the author, Gary Wills, informed us that Abraham Lincoln wanted equality among us and to unite as one. In Abraham Lincoln's own speech, he would not mention single individuals or even top officers. Everyone was considered as equal importance and was never any different. "Though we call Lincoln's text the Gettysburg Address, that title clearly belongs to Everett." 1 This is very true, which I think is interesting. Everett who was chosen by David Wills to commemorate the National Cemetery of Gettysburg, was supposed to be the speaker while Lincoln was only the dedicatory remarks speaker. Not only did Lincoln have the favorable speech, it was only three minutes while Everett's was two hours long. Lincoln also supposedly was not supposed to be there to speak; he actually just told a correspondent that he would be present. It's amazing to believe that a two hundred seventy-two word speech would say so much to thousands of people.
Reading Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address, one wouldn’t think he would be the president to end slavery.Speaking on outlawing slavery, he says,“I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” At the time, Lincoln wasn’t worried about slavery,
'With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.' In the delivery of Lincoln's 'Second Inaugural,' many were inspired by this uplifting and keen speech. It had been a long war, and Lincoln was concerned about the destruction that had taken place. Worn-out from seeing families torn apart and friendships eradicated, he interpreted his inaugural address. It was March of 1865, and the war, he believed, must come to an end before it was too late. The annihilation that had taken place was tragic, and Lincoln brawled for a closure. The 'Second Inaugural' was very influential, formal, and emotional.
He states that he has “...no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists” (First Inaugural Address). Although Lincoln does not directly say that he is against slavery, he makes it clear that he is. By stating that he will not interfere with the institution of slavery where it exists, he also makes it clear, subtly, that he will not let slavery expand into new territories. Lincoln knew that if slavery was not able to spread, it would soon die. In this speech, Lincoln’s position on slavery has changed. He did not want it to infect the entire nation. Now that he was president, he could be more honest about his
In a country divided, President Abraham Lincoln would face one of the most challenging times in US history. He would task himself with preserving the union of his country and ensuring the blessings of liberty to all those whom he served. The success of these tasks would define President Lincoln to this day. In a valiant effort to persevere the nation, as the it was ripping itself apart, President Lincoln spoke to the people of the United States concerning a recent battle of the Civil War of the United States. This speech became known as the Gettysburg Address; it is one of President Lincoln’s most famous piece. It is famous because it highlights the motif of his Presidency, the importance of equality, liberty, and the preservation of the union. Although this speech was well written, it was powerful and moving, partly due to President
Nevertheless, the speech still maintained a biting, and somewhat accusatory edge, as Lincoln also used this speech to make it explicitly clear that the Civil War was the South’s fault due to their own poor decisions. Near the beginning of his speech, Lincoln quickly made it unequivocal that the South was at fault as he said: “Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.” He argued that the South “would make war rather than let the nation survive” insinuating that the South instead wanted to “let [the Union] perish.” However, even as he accused the South of trying to destroy the Union, he also raised them up slightly as he said that “both parties deprecated war.” In this simple clause, Lincoln gave the South credit for not actually wanting war, hinting at the fact that he was willing to forgive the South if they would peacefully reenter the Union. Even so, through the speech, Lincoln addressed the South as “insurgents,” further highlighting the fact that he believed the
The Gettysburg Address is a famous speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln that expressed his ideas on the Civil War and the preservation of the union. It begins by stating that eighty-seven years ago, the Founding Fathers of the United States established the nation based on the propositions of liberty and equality rather
He’s promoting that the colonial secession was inspired by a devotion to liberty and equality. Southern Independence is being opposed for that same very reason and he does an incredible job of utilizing the words of Thomas Jefferson to make it clear. I discovered how majestic Lincoln’s use of literary/rhetorical devices was and his use of the English language through imagery. He uses repetition or anaphora to emphasize the points he made not in lack of vocabulary. The use of allusion is substantially dependent on the Declaration of Independence as I talked about before, but he also refers back to the Bible as well. As Lincoln transpires toward the end of his speech he calls the people of America to action. He’s asking them to fulfill the Declaration of Independence’s mission through the Gettysburg address. He uses the term "new birth of freedom," as a metaphor referring to the nation’s founding fathers basically “giving birth to the
Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign country would recognize the south as an independent nation, thus ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism.
Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and a reason to fight in the Civil War. Before the address, the Civil War was based on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were instilled in the Declaration of Independence by the Founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war about slavery he effortlessly ensured that no foreign country would recognize the South as an independent nation, ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, to touch the hearts of its listeners.