ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by habeas corpus,

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or "have a good day" in zombie speak.

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[ zombie voice ] Brains, brains.

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[ normal voice ] Yeah. That also means "have a good day."

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First up the excerpt. [ zombie voice ] Brains. Brains?

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[ zombie voice ] Brains, brains.

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[ normal voice ] All right. No, Lincoln was not a zombie, people. Come on.

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And now the question:

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This speech reinforced a shift in the focus

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of the war that Lincoln established by... what?

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Hmm. And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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Okay, important concepts, people. Pay attention.

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When Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, citizens of

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the nation had been at one another's throats

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for two and a half years.

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Lincoln hoped he could end the war in, well,

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272 words.

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Did the Gettysburg Address reinforce a shift in the war's focus

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that Lincoln had established by A - suspending habeas corpus?

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All right, well, at the beginning of the Civil War, Lincoln argued

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that the purpose of fighting was to preserve the Union,

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even going so far as to suspend habeas corpus

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in an attempt to hold things together.

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Remember, it's a legal procedure that prevents the government

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from holding you without just cause.

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So A is out.

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Anyway, was the Gettysburg Address used to reinforce

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Lincoln's change in tactics reflected by B -

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authorizing Sherman's March to the Sea?

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Well, the Gettysburg Address took place in November 1863.

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And Sherman's March to the Sea, however,

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occurred in November 1864,

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so we're a little early for that.

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And remember, that March to the Sea was to punish the South for

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believing their beliefs in slavery and a bunch of other good things.

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But, anyway, B's not the right answer here.

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Did Lincoln use the Gettysburg Address to reinforce his

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decision to C - propose the Thirteenth Amendment?

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Lucky 13. Well, actually, the Thirteenth Amendment

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wasn't proposed until a few weeks after Lincoln's speech,

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so the Gettysburg Address was a catalyst, not a reinforcement,

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for that momentous step.

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So that means that the Gettysburg Address reinforced a shift

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in Lincoln's focus demonstrated by D -

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signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Freeing slaves.

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When Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation

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on January 1, 1863,

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he made a sweeping move to free all slaves in areas

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outside of Union control,

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meaning basically the South and everything to the west.

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This shifted focus of the War toward the goal of ending slavery,

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reinforcing that the nation

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shall have a new birth of freedom. So D is the right answer.

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With the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln took his

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passion for freedom and really shouted it out from the rooftop.

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[ crowd gasps ]

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