Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Words: 768
Pages: 4

In the very first sentence of his address, Lincoln uses two phrases that are used to refer to the Declaration of Independence. At the memorial service for fallen Union soldiers at the Battle of Gettysburg, he states,
“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” (Lincoln, Gettysburg).
“Four score and seven years ago” - where a ‘score’ is 20 years - is referring to the year 1776, 87 years before when the Gettysburg Address was given in 1863. Then, when describing the principles of the early American nation, he includes that the country was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. By doing this, Lincoln reminds his audience of arguably the most important American text, and what values it depicts. He hopes that the audience will take these to heart and mull over them - in a time of great civil war, he believes that these words are what the American people need to hear. He hopes that referencing the Declaration of Independence will reinstate the audience’s sense of American identity, and help them decide to preserve the union in the face of the seceding,
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After using allusions to the Declaration of Independence to stir a sense of familiarity in the audience in the beginning, he starts to directly mention the civil war that the U.S. was experiencing at the time the address was given, and then the Battle of Gettysburg, where many Union soldiers died to ensure a victory against Confederate soldiers. He then goes onto say that it’s fitting that there should be land hallowed for the dead soldiers - like that being done at the memorial service Lincoln is speaking at. However, he skillfully follows up with the notion that it is not them who desecrate the resting place, but the fallen soldiers instead. He