Rhetorical Analysis Of The Gettysburg Address

The years 1861-1865 was a very transformative period because this was the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War. It was the bloodiest war the United States had faced, claiming over six-hundred-twenty thousand American lives, more than the WWII and WWI combined. This war began soon after Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana seceded from the Union.

Abraham Lincoln believed in the statement “all Men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” and in doing so lived by it. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 near Hodgenville Kentucky . At the age of 22 he left his home to start a life for himself. He began his first real job as a general store

The battle at Gettysburg had been a win for Union forces and the biggest loss of Confederates forces . This battle claimed fifty-one thousand lives. In November of that year there was a cemetery to honor the Union soldiers who had died there. President Lincoln and Edward Everett (a famous public speaker) were invited to give a speech. Everett gave a grand speech that lasted two hours. After the crowd-pleasing speech was over President Lincoln took the stage to deliver a speech no one was expecting. Lincoln’s speech lasted a total of two minutes and with 272 words Lincoln said more with less. Lincoln starts the speech by reiterating what the Founding Fathers made and how it must be preserved because it is unlike any other nation. Lincoln discusses the importance of the Civil War and gives hope to the American people and closure to the orphaned and widows by commending the men who died. This speech is meant to inspire the people, not only remind them of their loss. In the last part Lincoln uses the oral technique of repetition to reinforce his point of remembering the dead, that the nation founded on virtue shall stay in the guidance of God if they keep it together. The difference in each speech spoke volumes to the people and even Edward Everett said, “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." . The

Lee knew there was no chance of achievable victory and on May 1865 he surrendered and ended America’s bloodiest war. A day prior to the surrender of the confederate forces, the thirteenth amendment was put in place to abolish slavery once and for all. Lincoln’s dream of abolishing slavery and freeing the slaves was realized. In a way this was the American people’s way of thanking him for his leadership throughout the Civil