This paper deconstructs President Abraham Lincoln’s address at the famous Gettysburg battlefield, and explores the United States’ 16th President’s art of persuasion, magnanimously rallying to bring together the slave-owning Southern states and the opposing North in a 2-minute speech. Asked to provide merely a few remarks on the occasion, Lincoln followed Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours beforehand. Ironically, the most eloquent speech ever given (McPherson, 1996), for this assignment is resurrected on Easter weekend—over 150 years after Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth on Good Friday in 1865. (Abraham Lincoln, 2014.)
Lincoln’s invitation to speak at the event was, on the outer layer, the matter of the sitting President dedicating …show more content…
The escaped slave, now abolitionist Frederick Douglass also looked to a higher power, an authority greater than himself, to guide through many dark years until he gained his freedom from oppression. This correlates to Lincoln and his famous Gettysburg speech. Although the President was of a higher power than his people, he affirmed unity among all citizens through carefully chosen, concise wording. In his memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass:
An American Slave, Douglass was introduced to David Ruggles, a man who provided the means for the former slave to go to New Bedford and start a new life. Considered a divine providence, this new birth of freedom as it were, ties closely with Lincoln’s message of slavery.
‘… We can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.’ (The Gettysburg Address, …show more content…
Lincoln read from his two minute script of thoughtful leadership that had been written, and re-written fives times. (Friedman, 2010). The concise performance from the President was unapologetic, and made clear that he was not the focus of the event, but rather the dedicated servicemen now in their final resting place. Lincoln’s speech was a well-timed opportunity to convince, and persuade the Gettysburg audience, calling upon each to continue supporting the unfinished war efforts. The root cause of war, not the war itself was his reason for attending. Unity and freedom for all, under God, was his
Lincoln’s invitation to speak at the event was, on the outer layer, the matter of the sitting President dedicating …show more content…
The escaped slave, now abolitionist Frederick Douglass also looked to a higher power, an authority greater than himself, to guide through many dark years until he gained his freedom from oppression. This correlates to Lincoln and his famous Gettysburg speech. Although the President was of a higher power than his people, he affirmed unity among all citizens through carefully chosen, concise wording. In his memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass:
An American Slave, Douglass was introduced to David Ruggles, a man who provided the means for the former slave to go to New Bedford and start a new life. Considered a divine providence, this new birth of freedom as it were, ties closely with Lincoln’s message of slavery.
‘… We can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.’ (The Gettysburg Address, …show more content…
Lincoln read from his two minute script of thoughtful leadership that had been written, and re-written fives times. (Friedman, 2010). The concise performance from the President was unapologetic, and made clear that he was not the focus of the event, but rather the dedicated servicemen now in their final resting place. Lincoln’s speech was a well-timed opportunity to convince, and persuade the Gettysburg audience, calling upon each to continue supporting the unfinished war efforts. The root cause of war, not the war itself was his reason for attending. Unity and freedom for all, under God, was his