April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter, the shot heard around the world rang on the battlefield causing the birth of the American Civil War. The ending of the civil war is documented to be May 9, 1865. The Civil war was fought for many reasons, but the backbone of the war stems from the use, trading, and abuse of slaves. It is very simple, the North wanted to abolish slavery, while the South wanted to keep free labor and expand westward. Tensions grew between the states, causing multiple states to secede from the Union. War at this point was inevitable and Gettysburg became a key battleground win for the Northerners. With a win here this battle ground became a turning point in the war, but unfortunately became the biggest graveyard to soldiers throughout the entire war. Because of this, Abraham Lincoln dedicated a short speech to the fallen soldiers known as the Gettysburg Address.

The monumental speech given by Abe Lincoln has gone down in history as one of the most historic speeches in American history, capturing many ears till this day. At the time though, the colossal speech shifted the dynamic of the war and society surrounding it. The Gettysburg address helped revolutionize the culture surrounding the war because it gave a new birth to a nation of freedom, and beseeched ideas of human equality that reached ears of many in the Union. In order to give birth to this new nation, Abraham had to tackle the problem of slavery within the nation. The Gettysburg address was shaped by the current culture because it was written in a way that appealed to everyone and discouraged division among people. The style of his speaking was fast and concise hence why the Address is less than 300 words and can be told under 3 minutes.   

Nearly everyone has heard the story on how Abraham Lincoln wrote this speech. He was traveling on a Civil war train to Gettysburg Pennsylvania and felt the need to write a speech for the fallen, so Mr. Lincoln pulled out a pen and paper and wrote The Address down on his lap, and wrote it perfect with no grammatical errors or pen streaks. (Johnson 35-36). Even though this is a fun and exciting tale to tell, it didn’t happen like that at all, the only true thing about that story is Lincoln riding the train. Abraham Lincoln was a very intelligent Republican who always carefully thought out his speeches, wrote them down very neatly and did all of these days in advance before the speech was to be presented. 

This speech in particular, was very well written, as can be seen today due to a large majority of the American people having at least heard of what the Gettysburg address is. Abraham was very careful to avoid words such as “Union”, “Confederates”, and other phrases that can be interpreted for separating people. “We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live” (Lincoln). Here Lincoln talks about how the battlefield on which this fight was fought, should be dedicated to the soldiers who gave their lives to try to make their dream come true of living in a free and equal nation. Lincoln does not address the fallen as Union soldiers because he wanted to honor fallen soldiers of the South as well. Abraham wanted the newborn nation that the soldiers have been fighting so hard is seen as a nurtured child of both sides, in hopes everyone can grow together in the new founded nation. Lincoln was able to word the speech cleverly enough to where it would not seem Lincoln was in favor of the ideals the confederate nation was implementing in society. Therefore, saying this excerpt the way he did, proved to satisfy all Americans. “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (Lincoln). Lincoln positions this charismatic sentence towards the end of the speech addressing that the fight they are fighting has not yet been lost. Even though they suffered great causalities on both sides, the birth of the new nation will continue to be paved forward. Lincoln uses the word “nation” instead of “Union” to show he cares for every one in the nation not just the Union. The Union was considered the Northern states while the nation represents everything discovered by the American people including the western territories. He addressed people who went against him because he wanted to unite everyone together under one nation again and he knew that if he worded his speech correctly, he would take the first step into being successful on his quest. 

Overall, the use of his short, blunt, and broad language was influenced by society around him. Around the time of the civil new ways of communication was made available such as Morse code. This meant that people had to shift away from wordy romantic language to concise speaking. This was because Morse code was very hard to communicate so all Morse code was very short and easy. This style started to relay itself into how people started to communicate, they got used to the short easy way of talking, but Lincoln was one of the first to recognize its power. Hence, why Lincoln kept his speech short and simple in order to get his ideas across efficiently and effectively (Weidman). Not many people of the time period picked up on this style of writing because very few were good at it. Lincoln himself would spend hours trying to formulate a perfect simple speech. In the end, the time period influenced this speech because simpler was better, and the use of communication caused a shift in language. 

When writing this text, Abraham Lincoln used it as an opportunity to get his ideas and messages across to the American people. Even though the speech is very short, Abraham was able to convey some very large broad topics to his listeners in a very simplistic manner. The main message he wanted to convey was the idea of equality. He believed no matter the skin tone one person was, everyone was equal. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln). This is arguably one of the most recognizable openings to a speech to ever be created. Lincoln wanted to remind the American people what values their country was based off. This was very effective because it references back to the Declaration of Independence, something people to this day see as sacred values held by the American people. The time period influenced the use of the opening because America was at a time of division (Berns 58). Abraham needed a way to connect with all Americans, and the only way to do that was through the values of the people. He found a common connection between all Americans and exploited that attribute to his advantage. He knew that the first step to recovery was to find a common bond amongst enemies so eventually they could work together as one. 

To complement a blissful opening, Lincoln also created an ending that resonates with all people, hitting another core American value. “And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Lincoln). Abraham Lincoln is saying that what the soldiers were fighting for was not a lost cause. What they spilled their blood for did not go in vein. The final claim made by Abraham was that the country these people fought for would not be perished from the earth, but continued as a new found freedom. Again the president took a piece from the Declaration of Independence. “The government system will not be corrupted, it will stay for the people and be by the people”(Lincoln). The reason Lincoln said this was because society influenced it. The government, as they knew, was falling apart. They were going to be separated and everything they had worked for over the past 100 years was about to go down the drain. It was a necessity to get this message across in order to restore it and that is why he saved the best for last. He saw the falling out of society and knew exactly how to fix it, in order to rebirth a newfound freedom. 

Overall, Abraham Lincoln was influenced greatly by society surrounding him when writing the Gettysburg Address. The way the country was divided and the making of technological advancements shifted the style of this speech to make it explicit, elegant and simple (Weidman). The Gettysburg Address has become one of the most renowned speeches in American history to this day. Lincoln was successful in the transfer of his new “born freedom” in America, transferring from the old culture into the new one. Lincoln said about his address, “Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go backward” (Lincoln). In his case, the revolution was successful and shaped the future of America. 
