Gettysburg

Within Abraham Lincoln’s persuasive speech entitled the Gettysburg Address regarding

the divide of the nation given to Union soldiers and civilians during the dedication of the field, he

passionately shifts from outlining the stable foundation of America to exposing the reality of the

current tensions in order to unify the country and ensuring that “all men are created equal.” (2-3)

forming a just nation for all.

In Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, he empowers the citizens and soldiers of the Union

forces in order to unite the North and South, ensuring future peace time. Lincoln uses epiphoric

phrasing to create a “new birth of freedom. . .of. . .by. . .for. . .the people”(18-9) establishing an

unbreakable tie between the nation and those who live there.Lincoln adds this phrasing so that

everyone listening feels included. His inclusive phrasing invokes passion within the hearts of

listeners and the understanding that they need to fight together as a nation to reunite and

become a whole stable country again. He also uses prepositional phrases to further his focus

on the importance of his audience and including everyone in this cause. The prepositional

words (of,by, and for) add to this element because they create a relationship between the

people and their government, and that this government was made specifically for them. Since

they are tied to this government and nation they feel patriotism and pride because it was made

of, by, and for them, and they are obligated to keep this unity to maintain a successful

democracy. Lincoln also uses anaphoric phrasing to create the importance of the audience in

order to help his cause. These citizens are the only thing keeping the country together and he

repeatedly states their importance. They are the only way to have a successful society and he

expresses this to actively persuade them to help the Union’s cause and unification. This

repetition also evokes the emotions of patriotism and defines the the roots of democracy that
were the foundation of this nation. Thus, this repetitive pattern of “people” brings about urgency

to the people of the nation to do their part for the country. Simultaneously, the lack of

conjunction “and” evokes a sense of urgency. The country, or more specifically the Union, feels

more obliged to fight for a good cause, “for the people,” and their loved ones, creating a safe

place for them. Patriotism, throughout the speech, is reflected from the personification of the

nation being born. This new freedom can refer to the effect brought from unity of the country.

The abstract language or powerful meaning of “freedom” encourages the fight for unity to

continue creating an image of a peaceful society in the head of the fighters. Overall Lincoln

establishes these various devices and persuades his audience to fight for his cause for one

main goal, to create a peaceful and just nation for all.

Abraham Lincoln’s ability to empower and unite his audience can be closely related to

women activist today, such as the Silence Breakers. The “Silence Breakers” on the cover of the

2017 Time magazine stood up and spoke out against sexual harassment in order to be a role

model and encourage people to stand up, which can be related to how Lincoln empowers his

audience to continue fighting for what they believed in. The lack of leadership and role models,

before the Silence Breakers and Lincoln, hindered the unity and equality between people in the

nation. However, after these leaders were obtain, more and more soldiers in the Union fought

for this cause, and more and more women spoke out against sexual harassment proclaim the

truth of their torment that was once silenced. Both of these issues empower citizens to dispose

of the problems at hand.