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Biblical Language And Themes In Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address'

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Prior to my post-secondary education, I have not learned about the purpose and meaning of the “Gettysburg Address.” The purpose was to honor those who died and to set a goal where we become a successful democratic nation from the sacrifices that were made through the Civil War. However, the meaning behind Lincoln’s words are debated as some people believe that there are religious references and others believe there is not. “Biblical Language and Themes in Lincolns Gettysburg Address,” by Daniel L.Dreisbach, and “Revisiting the Gettysburg Address,” by Gary W. Gallagher, are different as “Biblical Language and Themes in Lincolns Gettysburg Address” notes the biblical references Lincoln uses so that the audience can understand the importance of those who died on this battlefield, while “Revisiting the Gettysburg Address,” explains that Lincoln encouraged unity amongst the people to become a successful democratic nation, they are also similar as they both discuss the meaning behind the “Gettysburg Address”, and discuss the significance of the speech regarding the nation and its’ people. …show more content…

Both sources discuss how Lincoln mentions the “rebirth of a nation,” which was only possible due to the death that had occurred during the Civil War in Gettysburg. Moreover, these sources have mentioned that through his word choice he was able to make the people understand the significance of the lives that were lost on this battlefield, which was to allow us to attempt to be a successful democratic nation. Lastly, both resources discussed that Lincoln’s purpose was to honor all of those who had sacrificed their lives regardless of who they fought for, to reiterate the importance of a united nation that we were supposed to be from the

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He uses strong, inspirational language like, “great task”, “devotion”, “freedom”, etc. This further serves to motivate the audience. By saying, “last full measure of devotion”, Lincoln employs more poetic words than just, “gave their lives”, which shows the soldiers gave everything they had and the audience needs to complete their mission of uniting the nation. Lincoln includes an allusion to the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, “under God”, to return to the idea of the beginning fundamentals of the country and how they brought us together. He again employs asyndeton with, “of the people, by the people, for the people”, which also shows unity as a country.

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