Introduction
The Gettysburg Address is the most famous and one of the most quoted speeches of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, dedicated to the martyrs who had lost their lives during the American Civil War.
Main text
The speech was delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of November, 1863; four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.
The idea Lincoln is trying to convey to the audience is that they must devote themselves to the protection of a united nation and the new birth of freedom by honoring the dead so that their sacrifice would not be vain. Lincoln’s speech is set up chronologically and commences rather remarkably and extraordinarily, “Four score and seven years ago”, when the nation was formerly created, advancing to the civil war that nation was then engaged in, and finally focusing on the accomplishments from the war.
Lincoln knew that he was addressing a rather divided audience and thus reflected on the ideals and accomplishments of their forefathers which they all shared in common, reminding each section of their unified history thereby bridging the gap between North and South.
Lincoln tactically ignored the reference to slavery or any other comment that would put him in support of either segment. The purpose was to bring the divided people together, so that they would envision a solitary objective of preservation and in effect, rebirth. Lincoln also exposes the problems of “a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” and its solution by emphasizing their duty to dedicate themselves to the unfinished work of preserving their nation.
Language and structure played an effective role in Lincoln’s speech through the utilization of words that lent a sense of unity and strength such as “our”, “we”, “us”, “nation”, and “the people”. The speech mostly comprised of simple, mono-syllabic or bi-syllabic words as Lincoln knew very well that he was speaking to a diverse crowd comprising not only of politicians, military officers and press, but most importantly the families of the martyred who were commoners and were obviously the most significant section of the audience.
Lincoln gave a stirring speech by bringing into play, antitheses and juxtaposition of ideas: mortal and immortal, “that nation might live … shall not perish from the earth” and “the world will little note, nor long remember” contrasting to “it can never forget”. Lincoln also appeals to the emotions of the audience by the means of words such as ‘fathers’, ‘liberty’, ‘war’, ‘died’, ‘dedicate’, ‘consecrate’, ‘struggle’, ‘nobly’, ‘honored’, ‘God’ and ‘freedom’. Within two minutes Lincoln was able to offer to them self-importance, assurance, rationale, optimism and a united goal by appealing to them to come together as one nation, with a “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.
Summary
The Gettysburg Address is an excellent appeal to humanity to preserve democracy, liberty, and justice for all time, “a new birth of freedom”.