President John F. Kennedy said, “This nation…was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened” (Kennedy). Both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to progress civil rights and democracy in America, each in his own time. Their speeches “The Gettysburg Address” and “I Have a Dream” each beautifully use rhetoric to express the speakers’ views on the patriotic theme of democracy.
Both of these great men were excellent persuasive speakers, utilizing the devices of ethos, logos, and pathos effectively. They both use ethos by referring to American historical documents to establish credibility. As to logos, both men agree that America has made a promise, but failed to fulfill it. Their use of pathos is shown in their references to spirituality. However, there are also some differences in the way they use these three devices. Obviously, the historical documents they reference are different. King specifically refers to the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been written 100 years earlier by Lincoln himself. Lincoln only alludes to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in his opening sentence. Also, while both men agree that blacks have been denied their unalienable rights, Lincoln’s perspective was very specific to slavery. King was demanding more than just freedom from slavery: school desegregation, voting rights, and fair housing were just a few of his goals. Both speeches appeal strongly to human emotion. However, as a black man himself, King was able to draw from personal experience of injustice to reach his audience. As the white president of the United States, Lincoln had never faced racial injustice himself and was unable to include that in his speech. These two patriots were obviously educated in knowing and effectively using ethos, logos, and pathos.
In addition to their powerful use of persuasion, these men revealed their views on democracy in their speeches. Lincoln made his view crystal clear in his ending statement “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” He passionately believed that thousands of lives had been lost to preserve the American form of government. The issue of slavery was a separate issue to him from that of democracy. King, on the other hand, did not believe that democracy could even exist without complete racial equality. He says, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” While both men believed in and longed for democracy, their definitions of true and total democracy differed.
Finally, both of these speeches reveal much about the theme of democracy and the nation in which they were written. Probably the most basic definition of democracy is “rule by the people.” “The Gettysburg Address” clearly shows that the American democracy at that time was in danger of collapsing, as the country was split violently in two. It recalls a time when a massive portion of the population was wrongly imprisoned and tortured, right on American soil. It recalls a time in which our country was not unified, when brothers turned against brothers, when both the North and South feared the loss of what they perceived to be the American way of life. Perhaps sadder still, “I Have a Dream,” was presented during a time when most Americans thought their country was free, that the status quo was just fine. They believed in a democracy that did not truly exist. It recalls a time when Americans should have already been enlightened, but when racial injustice took place on a daily basis, with the approval and sanction of most of the population. In spite of its deficiencies, Lincoln and King believed that America had the potential to be the greatest country in the world.
Both “The Gettysburg Address” and “I Have a Dream” are eloquent speeches about freedom and democracy. Lincoln and King were experienced speakers who knew how to use ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade their audiences. Both men believed in the concept of democracy, although with different opinions on its definition. Their speeches are extremely revealing about the unacceptable state of American society in their times. People can still learn to be better by reading, examining, and gleaning truth from these speeches.
Works Cited
Kennedy, John F. “Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, JFK Library Foundation,
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