Gettysburg Address Analysis

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. Being a masterful speaker, Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first was to consecrate the land and give remembrance to the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg, and the second 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. 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.

President Lincoln was under enormous pressure and stress when he was delivering the Gettysburg Address. The United States was in the midst of the most deadly conflict in its history, and Lincoln was doing all that he could to prevent an already divided nation from fracturing further. While the Battle of Gettysburg marked a turning point in the Civil War, Lincoln still had to bring comfort and support to those who had sacrificed so much for a cause that had seemed futile for so long. He had an immediate audience in those attending the consecration, but his message was ultimately intended for all Americans affected by a war in which family ties and national unity were tested to the highest degrees, hoping to heal some wounds despite new ones being wrought with each drop of American blood spilled. The Gettysburg Address was meant to assure citizens of the Union that President Lincoln believed in the war’s cause, and would continue to lead and sacrifice for his country. In addition, Lincoln sent a clear message to the Confederacy that he would not relent until the United States was united once more under a, “government of the people, by the people, for the people…”

Despite President Lincoln’s delivery, the divisive state of the nation ended up diluting the Address on some occasions, fueled by political tensions. The Democratic-leaning Chicago Times ripped into the Gettysburg Address, while the Republican-favored New York Times declared it would, “repay further study as the model speech”. International interests were also watching the American Civil War very closely-namely Great Britain and France-who had been petitioned for recognition and support by the Confederate States of America. Although this speech did not have as much of an international reaction as January’s Emancipation Proclamation did, it still solidified the views of American principles abroad. Furthermore, President Lincoln’s established ethos as the President was lost upon the Confederate states, so any words he might direct to them-other than “we surrender”-would surely be ignored or not taken into serious consideration. These constraints would detract from the message of unity Lincoln proclaimed, and slowed the easing of tensions as the war dragged on.

The Gettysburg Address was delivered on November 19^th, 1863. Although the exact location of the delivery is still debated, most experts agree the speeches that day were delivered in Evergreen Cemetery, which is close by Gettysburg National Cemetery. Lincoln styled the speech in a fairly chronological order, opening with the famous, “Four score and seven years ago…” that harked back to the founding of the United States with the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.  Next, he referred to both the Gettysburg Cemetery and battlefield in the present when he says, “We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” After summing up the task laid before the Union-continuing the fight for freedom and unity-Lincoln finished with his vision of a future American nation that, “…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 transitions from past, to present, to future gave the Gettysburg Address an organized flow by which Lincoln was able to elegantly frame his points and ideas for the future-both immediate and distant-of the United States.

Throughout the “times” of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln incorporated the process of induction to relate to inequality in the United States. He started by citing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in the opening line, “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.” These words may have seemed hollow to the audience, as the Emancipation Proclamation and Civil War noted how some men were not seen as equals to others, and were being enslaved by their “equal” brethren. Lincoln acknowledged that fact, but reiterated the principles and values of the United States that should embody the government with the famous closing line of, “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” By doing so, Lincoln challenged the United States to either stay true to the words of its revered founders-declaring that all men are equal-or to admit that it is a nation built upon hypocrisy. Although President Lincoln was killed before he could see the fruits of the Civil War’s peace, the nation eventually proved him right with the additions of the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments, which abolished slavery, set the standards for citizenship, and guaranteed the right to suffrage regardless of race, respectively.

Another notable feature of the language Lincoln used during the speech was the use of pronouns. Despite being the President of the United States, and surrounded by important political figures, Lincoln only used plural pronouns like “we”, “our”, and “us”. The lack of singular pronouns ties into the message being one of unity. Although Lincoln was President of a broken nation, he still hoped for a peaceful unification and was willing to forgive the Confederacy and work on rebuilding the United States. Lincoln understood that the war affected Americans on both sides of the conflict, not just the Union troops he had come to memorialize.

The Gettysburg Address was certainly filled with the rhetorical appeal pathos, a concept that Lincoln used to inspire his audience into enduring further suffering of the Civil War as they took up the burden of the fallen soldiers. His established ethos as the President-and “the Great Emancipator”-allowed Lincoln to turn the pathos of the consecration of the cemetery around, declaring to his audience, “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract…It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.” Lincoln wanted the Union to be fully dedicated to establishing a nation reunified under classic American ideals and principles that included: “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, “liberty and justice for all”, freedom, and democracy. This call to action came months after the decisive battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, which began to turn the tide in the Union’s favor, looking to assure Union citizens that their years of grief and sacrifice would soon be at an end.  In addition, the Union-eventually-had the ethos of fighting to end slavery and ensure equality among men on its side. Fighting to free the slaves gave President Lincoln the support he needed to win the 1864 nomination, made the Union seem morally “superior” to the Confederacy, and prevented foreign powers like Great Britain from interfering with the Civil War. President Lincoln’s use of ethos and pathos gave the Gettysburg Address its powerful yet elegant message that still resonates today, in the United State he dreamed of.