Lincoln's Speech example essay topic

Our nation has been shaped and reshaped by several major speeches. These speeches are given from the heart with inspiration, admiration and motivation. Famous speechwriters include Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Abraham Lincoln was the 13th President most noted for his Battle of Gettysburg Address in which he gave on the battlefield. The Battle of Gettysburg considered by most military historians the turning point in the American Civil war. The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive engagement in that it arrested the Confederates's e cond and last major invasion of the North, destroyed their offensive strategy, and forced them to fight a defensive war in which the inadequacies of their manufacturing capacity and transportation facilities doomed them to defeat.

President Lincoln told people that a nation in full democracy is a great nation. He also reminds us that our "forefather brought forth this new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equally". Lincoln's speech is very powerful in that a "new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Freedom was at stake during this time and Lincoln reminded us that we are fighting for our liberty and equity for our generation as well as the future generations. Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a remarkable speech when he asked Congress for a declaration of war on Japan. After being viciously attacked by Japan, Roosevelt felt our freedom was at stake and asked Congress to declare war.

Thus resulted in Pearl Harbor. Just 23 hours after the attack, the President, beginning with words that harken back to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, spoke to a joining session of Congress. By recounting the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt unified the nation. In Roosevelt's speech he relates to the people of the US as friends and says "our people, our nation, or territory, and our interest". That afternoon, Congress passed Roosevelt's resolution by a nearly unanimous vote. Roosevelt's speech helped Americans understand the nature of the war.

John F. Kennedy's inaugural address has been praised as one of the best public speeches ever. Kennedy, facing domestic and Cold War challenges, said, "In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course". Also Kennedy addressed the need to be a citizen. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but for what you can do for your country". Even though the United States was clear of Pearl Harbor we were not clear of war indefinitely. Martin Luther King was probably the most noted speaker of his time.

MLK was asked to deliver the keynote address in a massive civil rights march on Washington. Noted for his "I have a Dream" theory. MLK breaks down his seven dreams for freedom. The speech was structured like a classic tale of good triumphing over evil. Using Lincoln's words, King began with a discussion of the past: "Five score years ago".

Then King ended with the future: "I have a dream". Few could argue that King's imagery of little black boys and black girls joining hands with little white boys and white girls. Within two months of King's speech, Congress passed a new civil-rights bill into law. In all four of these speeches, freedom was at stake but not taken.

One thing that I find interesting in researching these speeches is the fact that they all build on one another. All of the speeches following Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address have some form of direct cite or reference to the famous speech that started it all. Freedom was at stake but not taken. These speeches helped shaped the nation that we so proudly call home.