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Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
“The Gettysburg Address”
“The Emancipation Proclamation”
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Born on the Kentucky frontier to illiterate parents; he rarely went to school and was largely selfeducated
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Opposed slavery but was not an abolitionist; he preferred to free slaves gradually
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In 1854 he began a vigorous public campaign to block the western expansion of slavery
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Elected president in 1860 on an anti-slavery platform; seven Southern states seceded from the Union
before he even took office; two months after his inauguration, the Civil War began
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As president, his key goal was the preservation of the Union; he supported emancipation to help the
North win the war
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Throughout the war, he was subject to opposition and ridicule from the public, his generals, and his
own cabinet; however, the prospect of a Union victory earned him reelection
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The Confederate armies surrendered just weeks into his second term; five days later, Lincoln was
assassinated
“The Gettysburg Address”
In this speech, Lincoln recalls the principles on which the Union was founded. He urges the living to
honor the fallen soldiers by continuing their struggle for freedom.
Study Questions
1. For what occasion did Lincoln deliver The Gettysburg Address?
2. Describe the tone of lines 1-8. What details help convey the importance of this occasion?
3. What verbs are emphasized in lines 9-13? What rhetorical device is in use in these lines?
4. What is the “great task” Lincoln mentions in line 15?
“The Emancipation Proclamation”
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A proclamation is a legal document that announces official state business. As with any legal
document, the writer uses precise language that can be clearly interpreted in a court of law.
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The Emancipation Proclamation was more of a symbolic gesture than an enforceable law. The
document applied only to territory the Union did not control; it did not free slaves held by states that
were loyal to the Union.
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The Proclamation, though not immediately enforceable, served important moral and political
purposes. It heartened and mobilized abolitionists and African Americans, highlighted abolition as
the war’s high moral cause, and dashed Confederate hopes for recognition by pro-abolition European
nations.
Student Focus
Legacy
The Emancipation Proclamation is a significant part of Lincoln’s legacy, despite its limitations. Why?
Study Questions
1. Describe the word choice and sentence structure in lines 1-3. In what ways does the form of the
writing (a legal document) affect the diction? See Glossary of Literary Terms for help, if needed.
2. Paraphrase lines 12-20. What is the purpose of the complicated and careful definitions in this
paragraph?
3. What authority does Lincoln claim for issuing The Emancipation Proclamation?
4. Reread lines 51-53. What reasons does Lincoln give for freeing the slaves?