Gettysburg/2nd Inaugural Address study guide
In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln describes the audience's ancestors as having "brought forth" a nation "conceived" in a spirit of liberty. Which natural process does Lincoln describe in formal language, and how does this choice serve his purpose?
He describes the nation's origin as a birth, in order to emphasize the significance of a historical moment.
In "Second Inaugural Address," what is Lincoln's attitude toward those who fought for the Confederacy?
He does not wish them any harm for their choices.
What does the following quotation from "Second Inaugural Address" most clearly suggest about Lincoln's view of the Civil War? With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
He hopes the final result will eventually be peace and healing.
In "Second Inaugural Address," how does Lincoln explain why the country went to war?
He says that war was inevitable because the positions were so opposed that compromise was impossible.
Based on the wording of the Gettysburg Address, describe Lincoln's view of himself and his audience.
Humble and dedicated.
According to Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, what is the stated purpose for meeting on the battlefield?
Dedicate a portion of the field as a final resting place for fallen soldiers.
In "Second Inaugural Address," what evidence suggests that the Civil War was not originally fought to free the slaves?
Lincoln says the government only wished to keep slavery from spreading.
In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln refers to the battlefield as "a final resting place" for the soldiers. He might have used more precise words or phrases, such as 'cemetery" or "burial ground." What is the most reasonable inference to draw from Lincoln's diction--his choice to use the simple phrase "final resting place"?
Lincoln wants to comfort listeners who have lost loved ones in the battle.
Lincoln begins the Gettysburg Address with the phrase "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty..." Which answer best explains Lincoln's purpose in choosing such formal language?
Mythos is used to make the audience think that violating tradition is not appropriate
According to Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, why are he and the others attending the ceremony unable to make the ground at Gettysburg holy?
The soldiers who fought there have already made it holy.
According to Lincoln in his "Second Inaugural Address," what issue occupied people's thoughts and attention at the time of his first Inaugural Address?
a possible civil war
In "Second Inaugural Address," what does Lincoln say or imply that he wants? Choose TWO options.
an end to slavery everywhere in the country a fair peace among states that will be lasting
In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln urges his listeners to join him to "resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." How does Lincoln believe that Americans can give the soldiers' deaths purpose and meaning?
by working toward a resolution that would preserve the Union's stability.
Vocabulary: dedicate, consecrate, hallow
devote, having been made or declared sacred, honor as holy.
In the Gettysburg Address, which set of values does Abraham Lincoln most clearly associate with the nation he leads?
freedom and equality.
Read this quotation from the beginning of the Gettysburg Address. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty. .. What does Lincoln's reference to an earlier time period suggest?
he is aware of the nation's short history and its founding principles.
In "Second Inaugural Address," what is the "peculiar and powerful interest" that Lincoln says was "somehow the cause of the war"?
slaves and the people who owned them.
According to Lincoln in his "Second Inaugural Address," what "still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation"?
the present Civil War
What is Lincoln's main purpose in the Gettysburg Address?
to reinforce the North's commitment to winning the war and keeping the nation united.
In the opening sentence of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln refers to the United States as having been "conceived in Liberty." Which of the following best explains why Lincoln emphasizes the notion of liberty in the speech?
to remind his listeners of the reason the soldiers fought and died.
