Preview

The Gettysburg Address Thesis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
554 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Gettysburg Address Thesis
While slavery was one of the most important topics in American history many people only cared about its economical aspects not its moral ones. Few white people saw slavery from the perspective of slaves. Many knew that families were broken apart, people beaten, and in extreme cases killed, and were treated more like a pet than a human being. It wasn’t popular works like Uncle Tom’s Cabin were made that people truly started to see the horrors of slavery. That specific book in fact became so popular that the first week of its release it sold 10,000 copies, 300,000 a year after it’s release.
Few people truly cared about slaves and one of the most renowned of those people was President Abraham Lincoln. Proof of his dedication to seeing a free America is in his famous Gettysburg Address. “The nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people”. This is the last sentence of the address and it is without confusion or play on words it has a very clear meaning. The first sentence “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” this shows of contradicting slavery was in the united states. This is
…show more content…
He also states twice in the proclamation that “ the Executive government of the United states including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons”. Lincoln and those who followed him, that being most of the northerners, believed that the abolishment of slavery was truly the right thing to do “Upon this act sincerely believed to be an act of justice”. Lincoln considered slavery a moral issue that needed to be dealt with so the nation could continue to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln quoted when passing the 13th amendment “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states, are and henceforward shall be free.” When Americans typically think about slavery, they think about African American slaves that began in 1620 and ended in 1865 when President Lincoln abolished slavery with the 13th amendment. Slavery actually began much earlier than that starting around the 1600’s with Native Americans. Native Americans were captured, and named savages during the english settlement. After the Native Americans were captured, they were either kept as slaves in America, or they were sold to Europeans as slaves. Bartolom`e De Las Casas, a european apologist for Native American rights, wrote about the horrific wrong…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jason I agree with you. Toward the end of 1862 early 1863, President Lincoln decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation because his objective was to turn the focus from a political war to an morally based war. The Northerners started to protest the war because they were losing most of the battles. So President Lincoln was hoping by changing the focus of the war would gain the support of the North. Also, some European Countries were considering a formal acknowledgment with the Confederates. President Lincoln believed that the shift to a moral focus over the political focus on slavery would prevent this acknowledgment. Also, he hoped that freeing the slaves would bring the Southern slaves to support the North. Ultimately, President…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln produced the Emancipation Proclamation which stated that “all slaves shall be forever free” signifying the significance of the abolishment of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not free one single slave, it certainly made a turning point for the Union side of the war, for now they were fighting for the freedom of a race of people. The Emancipation Proclamation lifted the Union soldiers’ hearts to fight harder than ever before to free the blacks from slavery in the south. Abraham Lincoln ordained the inspiration to abolish slavery forever in America. Even though Abraham Lincoln did not personally cut the chains and shackles off the slaves to set them free, he did start and lead the North the inspiration of abolishing slavery and so he is therefore credited for doing so.…

    • 901 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming up this month, we commemorate the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address given on November 19th, 1863. This speech is known and considered as one of the most famous speeches in American history. How could a two minute speech be so highly regarded and enough to be one of the most famous? Abraham Lincoln utilized rhetorical techniques to turn just 10 sentences into one of the most famous and most quoted speeches of all time. “The Gettysburg Address,” was given by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated the Confederacy at the Battle…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though President Abraham Lincoln was cognizant that slavery was indeed erroneous, he strongly emphasized that the war was fought, not for the abolishment of slavery, but for the salvation and conservation of the Union. Mr. Lincoln was aware that many northerners would support a war to preserve the union but not a war to free slaves, this is one ethical reason, in sense, that he didn’t want to spread slavery where it didn’t exist as stated in Source B.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What would it be like in the Civil War? November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave “The Gettysburg Address” speech while the Civil War was still going on “Now we are engaged in a great civil war” (Lincoln, Line 4). The Civil War started on April 12, 1861 and ended on May 9, 1865, during this time the Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863. Lincoln gave this crucial speech on the battlefield of Gettysburg to the people of his time so he can urge them to keep fighting. Lincoln wanted those listening to know that it was their duty to finish the war that unfortunately the fallen could not. Additionally he wanted to dedicate land, which would later on become Soldier’s National Cemetery, to honor the fallen Union…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg not only memorialized the deaths of the fallen, but also, through the use of the rhetorical strategies of repetition, pathos, and syntax, served as a away to get the people to continue the war. His syntax was most effective in the way that his speech was only composed of two hundred and seventy-words and still serves as one of the greatest speeches ever made. Lincoln’s repetition was used very carefully concentrating on the words being repeated and finally his use of pathos. Lincoln used pathos in away that affected the audience’s emotional views about the battle and the emotional connection between him and the audience. Lincoln’s speech was successful because of these rhetoric devices.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Number One: Ottawa August 21, Lincoln states, “I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world—enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites—causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity”. Now for Lincoln to say such sincere words about slavery, shows that he emancipated slaves for the right reasons and with nothing but good intentions. Lincoln’s intention to free all slaves of their injustice substantiates his worthiness to have the title of “the Great Emancipator”, regardless of what Frederick Douglass had to say.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world as perceived for our fellow natives is gradually evolving into what America has transformed in actuality.The Gettysburg Address proposed by Abraham Lincoln serves for the sole purpose of conceding and pledging to advance and execute the undertaking the servicemen in The Civil War unfortunately failed to obtain. In order for this to be accomplished, Lincoln conveys his speech with a blend of honor and a powerful utilization of verbage to transmit his primary ambition and both motivate and sway U.S Citizens to go forth and assemble an integrated nation.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of slavery to paradoxically define American freedom is first shown by the use of Jefferson, the “slaveholding spokesman of freedom”(Morgan). His attitude toward slavery can be shown in two ways. The first of which is debt. Debt is a force that can hold down any free man and this was why Jefferson hated debt so much. As a planter, he was basically forced into debt and resisted giving up his slaves until he found his freedom from that debt. He did not care about the freedom of his slavery as he did for his own. Jefferson also stated that a nation would be very fertile for tyranny if the men of a nation did not have enough land or money to support their families. This is paradoxical because the slaves live in a world of tyranny where the master is there monarch and the slave has no land or money to support their families. His second dislike was artisans. He stated that they lived dependent lives because they were dependent on the customer and had no other business or land to fall back on. Jefferson, on the other hand, liked farmers because they were very independent and always had a source of income. Jefferson states “the man who depended on another for his loving could never be truly free” (Morgan). This shows that Jefferson is willing to fight for the artisans who are dependent but does not want to forgo his slaves. Although freedom was rising for those who were dependent on others, the same dependent slaves had no improvements in liberty.…

    • 670 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address, uses his rhetorical skillsets to help dedicate the land to the fallen soldiers, as he uses multiple literary devices. He refers to the colloquial of the founding fathers to this nation and the authors of the Declaration of Independance. He aspires the remaining soldiers, and the local people of Gettysburg to continue to fight for a reason, equality and liberty, the foundation of the United States, as he assures that the fallen will not be in vain. Lincoln uses detailed phrases and strong wording in the short ten sentence speech that is currently recognized and will throughout the future.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Abraham Lincoln gave his speech, the Gettysburg Address, on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a new cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The cemetery contained the soldiers who died in the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. About five months earlier, the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Address was one of the greatest and most influential speech during the war, because it put forward the idea that "all men are created equal". (1) Lincoln honored the Union dead and gave a purpose to the soldier's sacrifice, when he states "from these honored dead we take increased devotion..."(2) He invoked the principle of human equality from the Declaration…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gettysburg Address Essay

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Akers and Lincoln both Sought to memorialize the soldiers from the great Civil War. they have common ways on how they did this, and many different ways too. however they both wrote an article that we are going to be comparing. Lincoln had a dedicatory speech on the battle ground of Gettysburg, also known as the Gettysburg address. Akers wrote an article about a statue that stood for peace.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gettysburg Address Thesis

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln was asked to speak during the dedication ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863. This was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Edward Everett was the featured speaker at the event and spoke for two hours. Abraham Lincoln was there to give closing comments. His speech was only 272 words long and he only spoke for about two minutes. Even though his speech was so short, the Gettysburg Address became one of the most famous speeches in history.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Three-Fifths Compromise

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1787, at the time of the Constitutional Convention, slavery in the United States was a harsh reality. The census of 1790 counted slaves in nearly every state, the only exceptions being Massachusetts and the "districts" of Vermont and Maine. In the entire country 3.8 million people were counted; 700,000 of them, or 18 percent, were slaves. These statistics are a striking example of the prominence of slavery in the history of the United States. They also exemplify the obvious contradiction between the institution of slavery and the advocacy of equality presented by the framers of our Constitution. Despite the freedoms reserved in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, slavery was not only tolerated, it was regulated.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays