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Essay on significance of civil war
Why the American Civil War is important
Essay on significance of civil war
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The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln is one of the most profound speech to be spoken by any president during a war. Even though it was 2 minute long speech, it caused America to change drastically. Abraham Lincoln stood for the principles of when America was established. Those principles included equality of every human being, governing by the people, and more. Those two principals were not being followed during the time period of the 1800s. Abram Lincoln knew that if America does not fix the problem between southern states and the northern states, the country will fail. That’s when he came with his other famous speech House Divided when he was elected as president. Which the main point of the speech was to tell the southern states to …show more content…
Abraham Lincoln begins his speech with that famous line “Four Score and Seven years ago our fathers” (Lincoln). He refers back eighty seven years ago so that he can get the American people to remember why this country was even formed. He refers to them so that he can tell the principles of the country establishment. Their beliefs are as Abraham says, “Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln.) Let’s start with the first part, when he said conceived in liberty. Abraham wanted to remind everybody including today, to understand that when this nation was created people born from it, all have individual rights and freedom. For example the liberties he refers are the ones in the constitution. Which are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, freedom to bear arms, and many more created after Abraham time. Which Abraham realized that America is not practicing and brings the next part of the speech. That this nation is dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. The reason why Abraham was fighting in this civil war was because he was trying to fulfill what the forefather intended the nation to have, which was equality. Just like what Abraham did, …show more content…
As Abraham takes the people from the past to present, the last part he start to talk about the future. One of the most humbling and wise saying that Abraham says is, “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”. That first line that Abraham spoke is pretty contradictory. Today millions of people recognize how great the Gettysburg Address is. Probably today most American Citizens know more about two minute speech then the Civil War. The point that he was trying to make was that if it was not for the northern people who sacrificed their lives in the battle of Gettysburg. Abraham could have never given the speech. If the northern had never fought that battle, America today would probably not exist as it is now. A famous saying that most people today follow is that action speak louder than words. If all Abraham did was try to persuade the southern states to abolish slavery. He would get laughed at and ridiculed. Abraham is guy who takes action no matter what the cost is to get it. Most people are not like Abraham. They sat there going to study, or start working but the reality of them actually doing it is zero. Abraham wants action not words which brings the next portion of the speech is when Abraham says, “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from
Lincoln’s Famous Address written by Roselynn Marquez talks about how Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was only 270 words, and it followed a two hour introduction by Edward Everett. Being short was not the only memorable point that the speech had. “Another was the simplicity of its language. As historian Allen Guelzo notes, ‘the address relies on crisp, plain vocabulary.’ He points out that most of the words are only one-syllable. Doris Kearns Goodwin concludes, ‘Lincoln had translated the story of his country...into words and ideas accessible to every American.’ By making his ideas easy to grasp, Lincoln gave them directness and power” (Marquez). The Gettysburg Address to this day is known as a unforgettable expression inscribing the war that took on in the country. In summarization, Abraham Lincoln is known widely for the Address he made in Gettysburg after the battle that took place
The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln in the November following the Battle of Gettysburg acted as a call to arms. This speech gave the North a sense of pride and reassured them that they did have a chance at winning the Civil War. In The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln tells the audience not to let the men who died in the battle die in vain he tells them that their dedication will lead to a “new birth of freedom” in the nation(document D). This newly found sense of pride and hope led confidence which was something that the Confederate army was lacking at the
Abraham Lincoln became the United States ' 16th President in 1861, delivering the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863. If there is a part of the United States History that best characterizes it, is the interminable fight for the Civil Rights. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "The Declaration of Independence states “All men are created equal”.
On March 4th, 1865, the Civil War was drawing to an end and Abraham Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address to become the President of the United States for the second time. At this point it was clear that the North was to win the war. Instead of boasting and bragging about his victory, Lincoln took a different route in his speech. He focused instead on putting the war behind the nation and reunifying the country. In this famous speech, he used various forms of rhetoric and literary devices to achieve this goal. He first employs the use of God to appeal to the pathos in the people of the North and South. The overall tone of the speech is also one of unification rather than that of celebration. Going with this is his word choice or diction; he continuously addresses the country as one instead of two split parts. These literary devices are crucial to the success of his core purpose of speech.
President Abraham Lincoln used many rhetorical devices to explain the effects of the civil war. Lincoln wanted the north and south to put their differences behind them and unite, to become a single unified country. Many people were surprised by Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, it was shorter than his first. He didn’t take very long to get his point a crossed about how the war would make him feel. Lincoln had hope that the country would turn around. That it would unify against all evils or troubles.
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.
He had just beaten out George B. McClellan for president. McClellan wanted the country split into two- one slave-holding and one free. However, the country had chosen Lincoln, they wanted the country to stay together. People wanted too much of Lincoln. He would have enemies no matter what choice he made. So now, instead of staying passive like he did in his first Inaugural Address, he took a stand in his second. He told the country that God sent the slaves to them early in this country, but now He wanted them gone. The war was a punishment from God for all slaveholders. Lincoln made this a rallying cry for all northerners, telling them that they would fight “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” This war would be bloody, but if they could only keep fighting a little more, there would be success at the
The speech “Gettysburg address” was written November 19 1863, almost four years after the first shots of the civil war happened in fort sumter . This speech was so impactful and it was only two minutes long. This two minute speech was one of many impactful speeches in history. Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech “ Gettysburg address” . During the civil war a lot of the soldiers had died. Family members were grieving over the loss of loved ones, and friends. Abraham Lincoln made this speech for the people who lost family members or loved ones in the war. This speech honored those who have fallen on the battlefield and remind those why we had a civil war. Abraham Lincoln reminded the soldiers what they were fighting for in the first place , that they can move forward from the loss of soldiers in “ Gettysburg Address “ using repetition and diction .
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.
Multitudes of southerners were fearful of what may come with Lincoln’s anti-slavery outlooks. Three men who were Lincoln’s competitor’s for the Republican nomination took a seat on his cabinet, they were William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. He used his strengths and weaknesses to emotionally invest with the American people. When it came to deciding on the emancipation proclamation, he sent the idea to his cabinet even though his mind was made up. Some say that President Lincoln fought with depression while others saw it was a melancholy temperament. He used humor plays to surround himself during sad times. Even when lost battles saddened him, he met with soldiers to remember what the war was for. Abraham was assassinated before the end of the Civil War but he left a legacy that would be remembered through the ages. The Gettysburg Address was given on November 19, 1863. It was written to commemorate the Union soldiers killed in the civil war. In his speech, Lincoln proclaimed that “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” consisted of both basic values and visionary values. He firstly asked the audience to agree with him in some matters before he asked them to choose a specific position. The basic values that he expressed tried to define
Lincoln begins his speech by speaking about the past in which the founding fathers established this country in equality. " Fourscore 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." This was very important because that was exactly the opposite of what was going on in this country during that time. America in the late 1800s was a time of slavery. That was one of the main reasons the Civil War was declared.
Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...
At 7:30am, on Wednesday, July 1st, 1863, at the intersection of Knoxlyn Rd and US Rt. 30 Chambersburg Pike, a shot was fired by Lieutenant Marcellus Jones. This shot would not be forgotten, as it was the beginning of what would turn into one of the biggest turning points of the Civil War; The Battle of Gettysburg. This three day streak of combat would later be referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion.” With the outcome being an overall Union victory, the Battle of Gettysburg would mark the point at which the Union would place the Confederacy on the defensive and end General Robert E. Lee’s most ambitious attempt to seize Union territory. The Battle of Gettysburg was so critical, in fact, that it lead to one of the most vital documents written in United States history, the Gettysburg Address. How exactly did this battle guide President Abraham Lincoln to write the Gettysburg Address is a common question among many.
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered ‘’The Gettysburg Address’’. Abraham Lincoln’s purpose in ‘’The Gettysburg Address’’ was to persuade listeners to finish what those who fought for died for by treating everyone else equally. ‘’The Gettysburg Address’’ is the most compelling speech due to its use of rhetorical