Lincoln at gettysburg the mani
Lincoln at gettysburg-the maniLincoln's Gettysburg Address
The Manipulation of Language
The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize a gruesome battle. Instead he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom". By tracing its first birth to the Declaration of Independence (which called all men equal) rather than to the Constitution (which tolerated slavery). In the space of a mere 272 words, Lincoln brought to bear the rhetoric of the Greek Revival, the categories of Transcendentalism, and the imagery of the "rural cemetery" movement.
In his book, Gary wills, by examining both, the Address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, breathes new life into words we thought we knew and reveals much about a President so mythologized, but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world, to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns.
The Civil War is, to most Americans, what Lincoln wanted it to mean. In this book Garry Wills brilliantly explains how Lincoln wove a spell that has not, yet, been broken....
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