Gettysburg Essay

Within Abraham Lincoln’s persuasive speech given to Union soldiers and civilians
during the dedication of the field entitled “The Gettysburg Address,” while addressing the divide
between the nation, he passionately shifts from outlining the stable foundations to exposing the
reality of the current tensions in order to unify the country, giving it a “new birth of freedom”
(180), forming a just nation for all.
Lincoln purposefully describes the history of America in order to reunite the nation and
create a country with blooming opportunity for everyone. Lincoln creates an allusion by saying
“All men are created equal” (2-3). This evidence alludes to the Declaration of Independence,
created during a time where new hope for the prosperity of the nation was more prevalent than
ever. By creating this comparison to the Declaration of Independence, he compares the time of
Revolutionary America where morale was through the roof to their current America, where
prejudice and division were rampant. The allusion highlights the flaws in current America when
compared to the gleaming revolutionary nation. A feeling of nostalgia is created through this and
his audience is encouraged to restore their broken nation back to what it once was. Furthermore,
Lincoln takes this comparison and applies it to modern issues, saying that everyone, both
Southerners and Northerners are all “created equal.” He makes an allusion to this specific part of
the Declaration of Independence, because the issues currently surrounding him were the divisive
ideals that sparked the Civil War. By saying everyone is equal, he is promoting a feeling of
unity, and making his audience feel as one with fellow Americans. By this, he encourages his
audience to mend the divisions in the nation by addressing the hopeful history of the nation.
After this, he uses an epiphoric phrase, “of the people, by the people, for the people” (18-9). The
epiphora presented creates a buildup of the word “people”, placing emphasis on the word. The
emphasis of “people” draws attention to it as a single word, focusing on the emotions brought
out by it. The connotation of “people” draws out images and feelings of an entire body of people,
bringing to the mind ideas of democracy, ruled by a body of people, which brings about freedom.
Through these connotations of “people,” he reminds his audience the ideals and foundations that
America was built on. He reminds his audience of the nation’s humble beginnings, to encourage
them to fight to get back to where they once were. Furthermore, the epiphora presented speeds
up the sentence, placing importance on the word “people” and therefore creates a sense of
urgency due to the speed of the sentence. This urgency encourages the audience to mend the
national divide quickly, before the issue gets any worse.