The Gettysburg Address Thesis

Seven score and nine years ago, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United States of America, set off for Gettysburg in order to consecrate Gettysburg National Cemetery. In an uncharacteristically short speech-at least for the 1860s-Lincoln was able to reaffirm the values our Founding Fathers had laid down in the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution, and painted a vision of a unified United States where freedom and democracy would be the rule for all citizens. Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first is to bring remembrance to the principals and morals for which the United States was built upon, second is to honor the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg and consecrate the land upon which they stood and finally was to sway those attending into giving their “…last full measure of devotion-” to ensure a nation that would remain built upon the concepts of liberty and democracy and continues to gain support for the cause of the war.. Seeking only to honor the dead and inspire the living, Lincoln ended up delivering one of the most powerful speeches in American-if not world-history.

The historian David Blight says that Lincoln’s message in the Gettysburg Address was to help the people recover from the deficit from the Battle of Gettysburg and the casualties that were caused by it. Lincoln simply wants to rebuild the country.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in American history. The History Place indicates that on November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln went to a battle field positioned in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where three dreadful days of battle occurred called the Battle of Gettysburg. While he was attending the battle field to dedicate it as a national cemetery, he read his speech to the public. After the main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered his speech that lasted about two hours, it was Lincoln’s turn. Everyone was shocked that it only lasted a little over two minutes. The speech talked about the men who fought in the Civil War to help create the nation people have today: that it is only fair to honor them

The tone and stage are set with the background of the great battle field of Gettysburg’s. Our nation is involved in a great civil war between its brothers with two different views and divisions. President Lincoln has the daunting task as the President of the United States to bring healing to this torn country; to remind the country that it was only 87 years earlier that this young country started on its great experiment. The thesis statement answers the question and reminds the audience that all men are created equal and that the basis on which our country was founded on was liberty and equality.

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

The next question I asked Mr. Kise focused on why the victory at Gettysburg was so very pivotal to the Union. In my own analysis of the battle, I did not expect the answer that I received from him. He said that in his “own personal opinion of what makes Gettysburg so important, is Lincoln’s speech four months after the battle” (Kise). He goes on to explain that even though the Union Army won a substantial victory at Gettysburg and helped to turn back the invading Confederate Army, it was when Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address that gave the battle meaning. Lincoln turned the war from “merely holding the Union together, to giving a ‘new birth of freedom’” (Kise).

Seven score and fourteen years ago, following the Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln stood in front of a crowd of approximately 1,500 people and gave a short speech. His audience included surviving Union soldiers, families of those who perished, and some politicians, all of whom gathered to consecrate the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Address, although only 271 words and lasting a mere two minutes, is one of the most well-known speeches in American history. In it, Lincoln argues that though he would like to dedicate the field to the fallen soldiers, there is no way to “add or detract” from the consecration those men gave with their blood (Lincoln). In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln uses the stasis forms of evaluation and proposal to convince his audience of the importance of the fallen soldiers. Using the rhetorical appeals of pathos, appealing to emotions of the distressed soldiers, ethos, catching the attention of his audience with both his diction and his position granting him credibility, and logos, structuring his speech in such a way as to draw in his audience, he successfully resolves his constraints while continually surrounding his argument around the exigence, the loss of life at the Battle of Gettysburg, to the target audience.

The Gettysburg speech was short, sharp, powerful and one to remember. Still to this day it remains to a well known, well respected speech.

On June 30th, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was a simple small town in the Union. On July 1st, it became a battleground; the town’s residents caught in the middle of a bloody battle. It is simply commonly known that the Union won the Civil War. While most are aware of the Union’s victory, a fair amount less know the reasons why. When you consider their copious amount of losses in the early days of the war, bits are left to wonder. Nevertheless, the Battle of Gettysburg is arguably the most famous battle of the Civil War, for three main reasons. The Battle of Gettysburg benefited the Union by helping to lower Confederate morale and that amount of supplies, giving Lincoln more stability as president, and changing part of the purpose of the war for

Lincoln expands on the significance of the sacrifices the citizens recently made for the betterment of the nation. Lincoln gives The Gettysburg Address standing on the battlefield soldiers died on to dedicate the grounds as a memorial to them and to honor the sacrifices they made. While remembering the fallen, he

On November 19, 1863, the American Civil War still raged and the outcome still in doubt. Four months previously, a terrible battle was fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This battle was really the first great victory for the Union over the Confederacy in the war to decide if the United States was to be one nation or two. President Abraham Lincoln returned to the battlefield at Gettysburg to help establish and dedicate a national soldiers cemetery to whence the casualties of the battle were to be interred. Edward Everett, a famous orator of the time, was the central speaker that day, and spoke for 2 hours, after which Lincoln made a few short remarks, that are now known as the Gettysburg Address.

The time of the speech was towards the end of the civil war, when the North and the South where still fighting after a bitter 4 year war. The battle of Gettysburg had already been fought and Lincoln had given the distinguished Gettysburg address just a few months before. He spoke of freedom, devotion, and the ideals for which he believed the Union stood. Lincoln had also already written the emancipation proclamation which had freed the slaves of the south in the previous year. The audience which

The Gettysburg Address, a speech given by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Many people might not remember certain famous names but messages like the Gettysburg Address are one of a kind in History. The pain, passion and emotion of this speech let the people know that those who fought in the Civil War would not go unknown or forgotten. The pain that is felt during this speech shows how much Abraham Lincoln cared about the ultimate sacrifice given by those who fought during the Civil War. The description about the cause and how Abraham Lincoln made sure that everyone should be treated with equality and can live free. If there is anyone that stated it best was Abraham Lincoln “that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, 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” (Abraham Lincoln). The Gettysburg Address was written for the people giving them a sense of pride, hope and honor for those who risked their life’s during the Civil War.

The Civil War had brought devastation on American soil. Brothers fought brothers; consequently families tore themselves apart as the war spread across the continental United States. Many notable battles had occurred during the American Civil War, such as the Battle at Gettysburg. This battle was devastating for both sides. Around 51,000 soldiers killed, injured or captured one another. How could the government, let alone the president respond to such a heinous event? On his way to the field, Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address. The Gettysburg address was a historic moment in American history because it memorialized the needless devastation Americans wrought upon themselves.

The Gettysburg Address was a short piece of work that carried powerful words throughout its entire structure. In the beginning, President Lincoln started his address with those ever famous words, “Four score and seven years ago…” While these words are famous, it is the rest of the opening “…our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that ‘all men are created equal’”(Lincoln) that carries the powerful message. He uses this opening to remind those in attendance about the beginnings of their nation and their government. He then moves on to speak about the present, speaking to the fact that the nation is currently at war with itself. Doing this stacks on the first point, moving his audience to focus on the present issues. Finally Abraham Lincoln goes