Revised Gettysburg

Within Abraham Lincoln’s persuasive speech the “Gettysburg Address” delivered to

union soldiers and civilians regarding the divide between the nation, he passionately shifts from

outlining the stable foundation of America to exposing the crumbling reality of current tensions

in order to unify the country, giving it a “new birth of freedom” (18)​.

Lincoln intentionally describes the history of America in order to impel the soldiers and

civilians to fight for a unified nation. By alluding to the Declaration of the Independence,

Lincoln emphasizes that “all men are created equal”(2-3) in order to present a standard for his

audience to compare to the current state of America. The allusion highlights the flaws in current

America when paralleled to the gleaming revolutionary era where morale was at an all-time high,

while it also reveals just how far not only the government but the people have strayed from the

ideals of the past by highlighting the issues of the present. By saying that everyone is “created

equal” he supports unification, by equalizing U.S. citizens and slaves, a group which brought a

split in the union in the first place. Lincoln also appeals to his audience’s emotions by saying that

the wealthiest northerners were “created equal” to the lowliest slaves, so this shows his audience

that whatever differences may arise, unification is necessary as in the end, we are all equal. After

Lincoln alludes to the revolutionary era of America, he encourages a need for a government, “of

the people, by the people, [and] for the people,” (17-18) creating earnest epiphora with the word

“people” which brings an emphasis to the idea of a democracy that includes everyone, even the

disenfranchised South. It also, by placing people at the end of each phrase, produces a sense of

urgency through its epiphora by repeating the word “people,” omitting conjunctions and creating
asyndeton, and placing “people” at the end of each phrase in order to speed up the sentence.

While he does this, he also adds momentum to his point: the United States needs to unite as soon

as possible. He further encourages this idea of unification by the how the epiphora draws

attention to the word “people,” by placing it at the end of every prepositional phrase, and the

implied meaning of the word “people” connotes ideas of democracy, reminding his audience of

the foundations of America, which were built on the ideals of democracy. Lincoln wants his

audience to help the nation find its way back to these elements that helped found the nation, and

he persuades the union to do this by referencing the feelings of the Constitution and therefore the

nostalgia from the revolutionary America that the allusion, “of the people, by the people, [and]

for the people” brings out. It creates ideas of democracy, justice, and freedom, principles

America was and should now be founded on. Additionally, the reference to the feelings of the

Constitution through Lincoln’s use of “people,” also used in the Constitution emphasizes

Lincoln’s message that America needs to remember its roots. At America’s start, the government

was unified and included the South, and by referencing America’s foundation, Lincoln reminds

his audience of how great the nation used to be, and encourages his audience to restore it back to

what it was.

Just as Abraham Lincoln worked towards uniting a country that had been severed

because of a controversial issue, political leaders are struggling to put an end to the abortion

debate which is creating a divide amongst the republican and democrat parties. Like the divide

between the Southerners and Northerners during the Civil War, Democrats and Republicans,

both passionate about the topic, are pitted against one another. Ending the abortion debate would

bring about the same state that Lincoln fought for, unity in America.