The causes and effects of the gettysburg address

The Gettysburg Address is a speech that was made by the late President of the United States of America, President Abraham Lincoln. This is one of the speeches that have been mostly or frequently quoted in the history of the United States of America. The Gettysburg address was given by the President when he was taking part in a ceremony which was to mark the dedication of the new cemetery which would be used to inter the soldiers who died in the battle, in Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

This speech was presented in line with the usual presidential addresses but it later shook the world.

The president was henceforth respected and many world leaders mutually copied his way of government. This was on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863. during the American Civil War. The speech was made four and a half months after the Union Armies defeated those of the Confederacy; this was at the decisive battle, which took place in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.

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It was at a time when the southern faction and the north had varying opinions towards slavery. The confederacy faction had an opinion of progressing on with slavery and they never approved equality.

this was so bad to the northern people headed by Abraham Lincoln and as a result there arose the civil war. The speech presented by the president greatly touched on all the parts of the conflict. It expressed a desire to have equaliy and love amongst the American people across the divide. (Westad, Odd Arne, 1998). The president placed each sentence in a clear and a logical manner.

The speech has been regarded as one of the greatest, most attractive, most influential and most quoted speeches in the history of America.

In a span of a short period; precisely above two minutes after he began to deliver, Abraham Lincoln had already invoked the principles of human equality (Woodward, Susan L. , 1995). He exposed this by the declaration of independence and this re-defined the civil war as a struggle not merely or solely for the union but “as a new birth of freedom”. According to Abraham Lincoln this was to be a real freedom, an everlasting one, the one that would eventually lead to the emergence of true equality to all of the citizens.

This concern of freedom came at time when the southern part of the United States was strongly pushing for the maintenance of slavery because they saw the benefits of cheap labor that came in from the African slaves. Lincoln measured his success by the existence of freedom that would also create a unified nation in which the rights of the states were not dominant anymore (Brown, Michael E. , 1998). Beginning with the phrase that since has become an iconic one “Four scores and seven years ago…” Lincoln deeply described the events of the civil war, as he additionally described the ceremony two tings of which he achieved almost simultaneously.

He referred to the events of the civil war and described the ceremony at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania as an opportunity not only to consecrate, dedicate or sanctify the grounds of the cemetery but also to dedicate the living. Apart from the fact that the speech has always had a prominent place in the history and the popular culture of The United States of America, the exact wording of the speech is disputed in that several copies of the speech reproduced by different parties have differed in details (Henriksen, Margot A, 1997).

For instance, the five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg address differ in a number of details and equally differ from contemporary reprints of the speech. The five manuscript copies are each named for the associated person who received it directly from the President then. Each one of the secretaries who served the President obtained a copy from him; this was briefly before he delivered the address. Out of the five remained therefore three copies that remained held by Bancroft, Everet and Bliss. Lincoln drafted these pieces of work.

This was partially because Lincoln provided a title, signed and dated the Bliss copy, this copy has therefore become the standard text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address (Lincoln, Abraham, 2003). Despite the differences in the details of the address, it would be a real worth if I gave a draft of the address after which I would discuss the factors that led to the delivery of the address and the after effects. On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles issued a comment concerning the speech that had been delivered by the President. This speech seems to be the most popular of all the others that he ever made.

When he was giving the brief history concerning the late slain President the Senator emphasized greatly on the kind respect he had for this speech. In his speech, Charles concluded that the president never expected much from the speech. The civil war was considered as having less importance compared to the address delivered (Gramm, Kent, 2001). In order to get well the matter in question, it would really be logical to know something extra about the speech or rather the address, which had been delivered by the late President of the United States of America.

This address that has remained stuck in the minds of so many a people, firmly stuck so much so that the real feeling can withstand the test of time yet continue to influence people in one way or the other. The speech took a short time but did much within that period. He began directly by hitting at the point, that all men were born equal an that in no way should one superior to the other, in this case, he tables his ideas so plainly that it only takes a slight struggle of the mind to get a glimpse of the while thing.

In a rather solemn or somber mood, he talks about the position of the Union members in the battle. The speech was also welcomed by the American of black origin because president Lincoln illustrated his desire for equality and abolishment of racial discrimination. He put forward that all people should be allowed to visit any public utility and be employed in any office in the country. This opened up the country for progress. Even though the county later divided into two factions, further amendments became a major stepping stone to greatness.

The president, also in his brief assignment brings out the reality that the soldiers who died in the a title are heroes who laid down their lives for the sake of freedom, he considers the soldiers heroes and also goes ahead to complement the ones who fought but never died. May be the aspect that remains touching most is the issue of slavery, he shows his strong ground on slavery, he is clearly against it, once more this is confirmed in his emphasis of the fact that all were men were created equal, he strongly campaigns for freedom and equality.

The civil war, which prevailed earlier, own caused and claimed many lives, perhaps this might be the most obvius event that flows down to the current sitation. During the moment of the battle, many innocent soldiers lost their lives. This really signified a climax in the war and hence a call for fresh peace amongst people furthermore. The smell of the rotting bodies of the soldiers and the horses made the environment a little bit unbearable, hence the need to do something to counter the health hazards which were at stake.

It therefore became the desire, a highly regarded priority to inter those who died in this battle in an orderly and dignified manner. Initially the town wanted to buy land for a cemetery and then ask the families of the dead to pay for the burial but Davis Willis; a wealthy Attorney objected to the idea and wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania suggesting that a National Cemetery be funded by the States. He was authorized therefore to purchase land for a cemetery to honor those who died in the summer battle.

Willis had planned initially to dedicate the new cemetery on Wednesday October 23, he invited Edward Everet wh9o had served as the secretary of the state, a Governor and a senator; he was great orator who was famous all over, Willis wanted him to be the main speaker. Everet on the other hand told Willis and his organizing committee to postpone the dedication as the time he had been given was too short for him to prepare an appropriate speech. This was done and the date changed to November 19.