Gettysburg Address Persuasive Essay

“…That we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” These are Abraham Lincoln’s closing words of what is considered one of the most powerful speeches in American history, The Gettysburg Address. At a time of mourning, Lincoln informs the nation that the United States would continue to fight for the survival of a nation based on the principles of freedom, despite the high casualties due to different beliefs. Lincoln reminds the nation that the war is all just a test to challenge whether or not a nation with a foundation based on freedom can survive. Likewise, one hundred and thirty-eight years later, President George W. Bush delivered a speech from the White House on the evening following a tragic day in the United …show more content…
Two of these planes flew into each of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one flew into the Pentagon, and one destined to fly into the White House, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. These attacks resulted in over 3,000 deaths, and a petrified, anxious, and heartbroken nation. Similarly to the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Civil War in whole, being a test of the survival for a nation based on the principles of freedom, the foundation of al-Qaeda’s attacks on the United States were because they do not like our freedoms, and thus they attempted to cause our nation to collapse. The night of the attacks, George W. Bush delivered his speech, “Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks.” In this time of tragedy, George W. Bush delivers this speech in order to calm, and reassure the nation that everything will be okay. Bush’s speech successfully achieves this through his diction, multiple anaphoras, and ability to appeal to