Ethos In The Gettysburg Address

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles in the events of the American Civil War. Stopping Southern leaders from invading the North, more than fifty-thousand men were killed making it one of the bloodiest battles in the history of America. On the day of November 19, 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln gave a widely impactful and inspirational speech which honored the cemetery located in Gettysburg. While Lincoln’s speech was a short three minutes long, it is still considered one of the most influential speeches in the history of the states and is known as the Gettysburg Address. Throughout the speech Lincoln honors the fallen that came from the battle and the speech continues to be well known and remembered

The Gettysburg Address begins with an allusion to when the Declaration of Independence was signed. As it starts with the phrase, “Four score and seven years ago…” he was referring to the year of 1776, which was 87 years from when the speech was given. (Lincoln) Using this, he had the ability to show the significance of the country's ideals in the speech by remembering the creation of the U.S., and therefore using pathos to influence the minds of the audience to think emotionally. He then ends his first sentence with a more specific allusion to the creation of the Declaration by stating the line ‘...that all men are created equal.’ (Lincoln). Again, this allusion seemed ideal to the shared notion of freedom and unity. The way Lincoln uses these different instances of

Lincoln goes on to repeat words like we and our multiple times in the middle section of his speech. Throughout the conflict as the country was greatly split, using expressions like these highlighted an important ideal for Americans. Lincoln therefore used the word ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ in his speech because he wanted to relate himself to the audience and therefore invoke ethos, gaining their trust. This was a crucial word in his speech as it told the audience that a common mind was essential for developing a better nation, and not just the sole responsibility or ability of the president. In addition to this, Lincoln used antithesis to contrast one idea from another. By saying “...for those who gave their lives, that that nation might live” Lincoln makes a specific contrast between life and death. (Lincoln). Creating an idea that is compared with its counterpart provides a captivating way of engaging listeners into the topic you wish to discuss. Due to this, it was allowed for the main idea of the speech to regard the people who passed away, as well as keeping with the original ideals the founding fathers used in the start. This gives incentive for the remaining members of society to carry out a new objective. When utilizing the methods of rhetorical writing, he had the ability to