Compare the three speeches (The Gettysburg Address, St Crispin's Day Speech, We Go To Liberate Not To Conquer)

Essay by DustJunior High, 9th gradeB, July 2005

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In 1860 Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States, and the greatest threat for Lincoln was the American Civil War. Most historians consider that the battle of Gettysburg was the turning point for the American Civil War (the battle of Gettysburg ended on 4th July 1863). The Union and the Confederacy suffered heavy casualties, the extensive loss of life was all Americans. On 19th November 1863, Lincoln was asked to deliver "a few appropriate remarks" at the ceremony dedicating a military cemetery at the Gettysburg battle site. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has - despite its brevity -become the most memorable speech of all time. On the contrary, Everett's monotonous two-hour oration has been long forgotten.

I would divide Lincoln's speech into three segments, the first segment is aimed to persuade his audience that they should preserve this united nation and a new birth of freedom, so that the death did not die in vain, '...for

those who died here that the nation might live.' The second one is trying to tell that this civil war is a test of the Union endurance, and if they manage to go through this crisis together, the nation would turn out to be better than before, '...testing whether that nation or any nation ... can long endure.' And thirdly, he tried to persuade his audience to preserve the idea that everyman is equal and the idea of parliamentary democracy, '...dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.' '...government of the people, by the people, for the people...'

Although Lincoln's speech is quite brief, it is very well organized and set up chronologically. Lincoln begins with the past, 'Fourscore and seven years ago...', then moving to the present civil war, 'Now we are engaged in a great civil war...', and at...