Gettysburg Address Analysis

Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address, 1863

By Patricia Moreno
Centro Asociado: Alzira-Valencia

The Gettysburg Address is a 272-word political speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on the 19th of November 1863 at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
America was suffering de consequences of one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the civil war and after four months of fight, the President travelled to the battlefield to encourage American soldiers so that they could manage to end the war successfully.
Although he was not the main orator that day, his speech was remembered as one of the most important speeches in American history. Nowadays, it is still

First of all, he began talking about 87 years in the past, when the country lived a moment of happiness and prosperity with the Declaration of Independence and a new re-born of nation. Secondly, the speech referred to the actual moment and mentioned the war and the dedication ceremony, remaining the importance of finishing the battle as the nation was being tested. Finally, Lincoln displayed with words a picture of the future where a desirable relationship is established between the government and the people.

As I said above, Lincoln was not the principal speaker that day. Before he gave the Gettysburg address, Edward Everett performed a 2-hour speech compared to Lincoln 's speech, which only lasted for two minutes. So after Lincoln´s words, there was a silence from the audience. Some people believed it was because they were not sure whether he had finished his speech and others said that the crowd was in shock about what was said. The speech was not only brief and poetic but also understandable and full of powerful feelings to maintain unified the people and promote liberty. Only a united nation with a strong central government, he thought, could cope with slavery and foment

After him, and within only ten sentences, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and connected the sacrifices of the Civil War with the desire for “a new birth of freedom,” as well as the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of self-government.
On the following day, Lincoln´s speech was reprinted on the newspapers all over the country. Public opinion was divided into support and disagreement. However, it would be one of the shortest and most memorized speeches in America history.
Furthermore, some of The Gettysburg Address phrases are also connected, used or referenced in other works such as one of those famed orations, Martin Luther King, Jr. 's speech “I Have a Dream” which starts “Five score years ago, a great American…” or the actual Constitution of France which states that the principle of the Republic of France is “gouvernement du peuple, par le peuple et pour le people” (government of the people, by the people, and for the