Lincoln's Speech example essay topic

... l and respected man in our history. The fact that Lincoln's immense confidence in himself allows him to compare himself to such a legend is frightening. If he can compare himself to Jesus Christ, he must believe that he has the power to do whatever he wants with our country. Also, by comparing himself to Jesus, he is trying to gain the people's trust and dedication.

The people worship Jesus, and Lincoln would like the same kind of support for himself. Also in his 'Perpetuation Speech,' Lincoln slips another small thing in there. He speaks about an African American (actually mulatto) man named McIntosh, a slave that had escaped. When he first tells his story, he sounds sympathetic towards the man. He describes the scene of his death as 'tragic,' and he makes us think that he feels bad for the guy, who, 'was seized in the street, dragged to the suburbs of the city, chained to a tree, and actually burned to death; and all within a single hour from the time he had been a freeman, attending to his own business, and at peace with the world,' (Grafton, page 3).

He seems to feel sorry for the man that escaped his servitude only to be dragged back and killed. Later in his speech, he refers to McIntosh again, but his view about the man seems to be different. He was talking about gambling and he says that it would be a step in the right direction if they were to be just swept right off of the planet. He believes that good men would actually be profited from this. Then he states, 'Similar to, is the correct reasoning, in regard to the burning of the negro at St. Louis... As to him alone, it was as well the way it was, as it could otherwise have been,' (Grafton, pages 3-4).

When he mentions McIntosh this time he doesn't go right out and announce his name. At a quick glance, it almost seems as if he is talking about a totally different person. Lincoln changes the words around. At first, when he has the peoples' attention, he tactfully describes the incident and refers to McIntosh respectfully as a mulatto. Later he calls him a negro. He subtly slips this part in and not many people would normally catch it.

This was just a way for Lincoln to get his real feelings out. He gains the people's support who are anti-slavery when making the first statement, and the people's support who are pro-slavery with the second one. It is hard to catch the fact that he is really talking about the same person. This is just another example of how Lincoln manipulates the people to gain more supporters. In Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 1863, he quotes the Declaration of Independence, but he changes the words around very slightly for the times to fit his own purposes.

'Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,' (Grafton, page 103). Lincoln introduces the idea that our founding fathers brought forth a new nation. The word 'nation' in this phrase is being used purposely at that time. During the Civil War the South did not think of themselves as part of the nation, but Lincoln would not recognize them as having seceded from the United States and being a separate nation, thus, using the word nation when referring to all of the states being bound together still. He also talks about the fact that we were, 'dedicated to the proposition,' when in the real document, it said that those truths were to be held, 'self-evident'. This is in a way trying to undermine the founders by saying that they had an idea to make everyone equal, but it would have never worked.

This reflected the situation that they were now in, with the Civil War. It was something that the founding fathers had the chance to take care of long ago, but were never able to. Now Lincoln faced the same problem and was better equipped with the times to handle it. In the days of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the idea of abolishing slavery was thought to be impossible because of the situation. There were too many people in those days whose lives were dependent on slavery. Through Lincoln's speech, he makes it seem as if all that the country needed was someone who could make things happen.

This person would be himself. He does not mention the fact that the times had changed. He makes himself look better than the founding fathers with his change in the wording of the Declaration of Independence. This speech was given in front of 15,000 to 20,000 people.

This was a very large audience and a huge opportunity for Lincoln to gain even more support. Lincoln uses many tactics in his speeches to get ahead, for his own personal uses. In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln uses the Bible for his own personal means. He refers to God and to the Bible and prayers an awful lot in this speech. '... with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in' (Grafton, pages 107-108). By doing this, he is trying to justify his actions and gain supporters. I examining this speech, it does not sound like it is meant for an inaugural address.

Lincoln sounds as if he should be standing up in front of a congregation. Many people look up to their pastor for spiritual guidance. A pastor is respected and loved by the members of his congregation, just as Lincoln would like to be respected and loved by the people of the United States. By structuring his speech like this, Lincoln creates a different type of atmosphere that many people would feel comfortable in.

He befriends the people and gets himself a little closer to them. Lincoln uses his power of manipulation yet another time in his 'Temperance Speech'. He is saying that the tactics in this movement are unjust, or their means to an end are unjust and therefore the whole movement is wrong. Lincoln, however, when giving this speech doesn't come right out and say that he believes that they are wrong. In this way he gains more supporters by befriending them and not telling them straight out that they are wrong. At that point in time, Lincoln needed those votes.

However, he got them by dishonest means. That really doesn't sound like the 'Honest Abe' that all of the people knew and trusted. I believe that President Abraham Lincoln was a man with a lot of power. Lincoln was a very dangerous speaker. He could have easily used this power and his ability as an orator to become one of those men that are not satisfied with just the presidency and could have tried to have more.

I believe that for this reason, Lincoln was a threat to our society. However, the people did not realize this because he had them so entranced by his wonderful speeches and writings. At a normal glance, it looks as if there is nothing hidden in those speeches. When they are looked at a little more closely though, one can see how Lincoln used his immense talent to trick the people into supporting him. Through his beautifully crafted orations, Abraham Lincoln gained many followers..