The Gettysburg Argument Essay

Abraham Lincoln describes the “birth of a new freedom” in the Gettysburg Address, as a restoration of our country, where “all men are created equal” (Lincoln 1). Lincoln portrays the country as one united nation where the government is solely for the people; whereas, Thomas Jefferson introduces the idea of independent freedoms and division in the government. Frederick Douglass recognizes a “new freedom” on the day of his Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln where the whites and the blacks were able to gather peacefully in historical D. C. to honor President Lincoln. African American slaves were freed during Abraham Lincoln’s Presidency. The emancipation of the slaves was Lincoln’s idea of a “new freedom”, where there is equality and unity

Jefferson believes “a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People” (Jefferson 2). In order to prevent tyranny, the government should be decentralized in its power, “to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form” (Jefferson 1). Jefferson’s idea of “organizing power” is based on dividing the government into sections, to create equality in power and a voice for the people. The government should act as an advocate for the people; “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it” (Jefferson 1). If the people see the government as unfair or corrupt they have the power to change it through the separation of powers. Jefferson introduces the idea of independent states within America, “by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies, are and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States” (Jefferson 2). The idea of the states having independent freedoms allows the authority to come from the