Gettysburg Turning Point Of The War.
Among the many rich rhetorical legacies US presidents have left to future generations, the Gettysburg Address dwarfs them all.
Lincoln took scarcely more than two minutes to deliver a worthy tribute to fallen Federal soldiers and paint an inspirational vision for the future of a country rent and scarred by nearly three years of unimaginable violence and horror. Dedication Day, celebrated this year in the wake of a withering pandemic alongside one of the most divisive and ugly presidential campaigns in our history, reminds us that despite our differences, strong leadership and dignity from our chief executive can help pull us through any crisis, salve our psychological wounds, and ultimately renew the nation.
The Gettysburg dedication was not only about honoring the Union dead. Like the famous Prussian military strategist Clausewitz, the president understood that war and politics were inseparable. Despite never having left wartime Washington for the sole purpose of participating in a public event, Lincoln made his attendance an important priority. The solemn ceremony at Gettysburg was the featured part of a carefully planned, daylong series of events that fused memorializing with Gettysburg Turning Point Of The War politics. The events of November 19, were conceived and executed by David Wills, in concert with the governors of several loyal states, most notably Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. Edward Everett, the most accomplished American orator of his time, delivered the formal dedication speech on the platform near the cemetery; a two-hour dissertation on the history of the battle and a moving homage to the dead heroes, replete with Greek funeral imagery and pleadings of patriotism that brought many in the audience to tears.
The second featured speaker, Ohio lieutenant Gettysburg Turning Point Of The War elect Charles Anderson, moved his audience to frenzied applause and cheering in an overtly political oration attended by Lincoln, Secretary of State Seward, and nearly all of the important dignitaries. His message was simple and provocative: The dead have been justly honored. Now the country needs to revenge their deaths, rally behind Lincoln to defeat the traitors, and restore the sacred Union of their forebears. The timing of the Gettysburg dedication was critical from a political perspective. After suffering huge losses to Democrats in the mid-term elections ofpublic support in the North for the war effort was waning with many citizens supporting proposals from so-called Peace Democrats for an armistice. This strategy worked and the state elections in the fall of resulted in Union party triumphs, thus setting the stage for the upcoming click to see more election.
The American Civil War : The Most Significant Turning Point?
The ceremony at Gettysburg presented an ideal opportunity for Union Party operatives to leverage this high-profile event with as much dignity and grace as possible; however, decorum is not always a core competency Gettysburg Turning Point Of The War ambitious politicians. Secretary of State Seward, a prewar abolitionist, delivered a short speech that evening that was radical by any measure. These men meet to laugh and joke and electioneer with the wounded still groaning and the dead unburied. Lincoln was convinced that the Union would not survive his reelection defeat.
He devised a concise masterpiece that combined patriotic tribute with an inspirational vision for the future while simultaneously establishing a political agenda for the upcoming election.
The employment of these three different speeches as a rhetorical ensemble to help Lincoln accomplish his political agenda has been overlooked by many scholars. Throughout the Civil War, Lincoln was alert to the fact that every public appearance and military decision he made had political consequences. This he could not abide. Martin P.
The Battle Of Gettysburg Was The Turning Point Of The American Civil War
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