Aliyah- Speech- Gettysburg address

Less than ten-score years ago on the 19th of November 1863, amidst the rotting bodies
and human bones, in the centre of the thick destruction of the Gettysburg Battle, stood a
man. A man who invoked principles of human equality in a nation segregated beneath
the ideal of self-government. A man by the name of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president
of the US. Unification is one of the only ways a nation can rise through times of national
adversity. Torn by the civil war, Lincoln is highly effective in his prompt restoration of
hope and unification amongst the citizens of the United States of America. 
 
Pushed to the very brink of hope. Floundering on the threshold of all that is left. On the
very verge of ceasing effort. Surely, we have all, much like the citizens of the United
States, found ourselves in such a position of hardship where it seemed there was no
hope. But as Lincoln made clear on that very day, the magnitude of hardship is no
measure of resilience and instead, it would be the strength of the US citizens that would
rescue the nation from perishing. Finishing with his famous tricolon, “...that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”, through
repeating the phrase ‘the people’, he has placed importance and emphasis on those
words, portraying the value of the citizens and his hope for the people in being able to
rise as a nation, convincing them to not deprive the United states of its strength and
unity. He powerfully convinced them of their right to a United States that is unified in
truth rather than by name. In a time of doubt, a time of engrossing uncertainty, he was
able to raise the morale of the nation and coax the audience, the United States, to live,
fight on and preserve the essence of the union, proving to be the most successful speech
in effectively conveying its message.
 
The ultimate sacrifice one can make for what they stand by; their life. Would you do it?
The line “...those who here gave their lives that this nation might live” uses antithesis to
make the ultimate comparison between life and death. Through doing so, Lincoln was
effective in portraying the solemnity of their demise and the importance of ensuring that
their deaths were a contribution to repairing a broken United States. That their deaths
extinguished the long lasting flame of hatred that had spread across the US as a wildfire.
That they truly gave their lives so that this nation may live. He convinced them that this
would only be induced in a new America. In a changed and unified America. One he was
successful in convincing that they must have, and could only have through their unity
and resilience. 

In a country where notions of segregation and racial discrimination were socially

accepted, where the people were the self-destructive tool of their own country, who
would’ve thought that the country was birthed in the light of equality and liberty? The
line ‘...our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’ uses a personifying
metaphor to associate the nation with a child. Lincoln creates an image of innocence
around the United States and how national segregation has corrupted the pure-natured
founding of the US. Isn’t it astounding that he has shined a light of guilt upon the nation
and in turn, persuaded them into putting differences aside? He has shot a hole through
their pride and permitted a nationwide epiphany, persuading them to care and treat
each other as equals. He has cajoled an entire nation into unity and ultimately into
strength. 
 
Less than 275 words, less than 5 minutes, was all it took for Abraham Lincoln to alter the
minds of millions, if not hundreds of millions of people. To persuade the timeless nation
of the United States into unification and resilience. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address was undoubtedly the most effective piece of persuasive literature and until this
day, his footstep in securing the very meaning of the United States remains unchanged.