Declaration of Independence was written This birth was based on two noble ideas liberty and equality Every person rich or poor black or white was meant to have the same rights For Lincoln this birth was not just political but also moral and spiritual nbsp However by the country was in crisis The Civil War threatened the very survival of this newborn nation So Lincoln reminded people of the original purpose to protect the nation s founding ideals The word birth gives the image of hope innocence and promise the beginning of America s great democratic journey The Metaphor of Death - The Death of Soldiers and the Nation s Struggle The next important metaphor in the speech is death The battlefield of Gettysburg was full of death Thousands of Union soldiers under General George G Meade and Confederate soldiers under General Robert E Lee had died Lincoln honors them by saying The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it Here death has a deep meaning It does not only mean the end of life It also symbolizes sacrifice These soldiers gave their lives so that freedom could live Their death made the ground sacred Lincoln even says We can not dedicate we can not hallow this ground He means that no speech or ceremony can make the land holier than the blood that already sanctified it The metaphor of death also shows the suffering of a nation The United States was divided brother fighting against brother Death represents pain loss and the price of freedom It is the stage where the old broken America must die so that a better one can rise The Metaphor of Re-birth - A New Birth of Freedom The most powerful part of the speech comes near the end when Lincoln says That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom This is the heart of the Gettysburg Address After birth and death comes re-birth the renewal of the nation s soul This new birth means more than rebuilding after war It means the creation of a free and equal America where slavery will end forever Lincoln wanted people to see that from the suffering and death of soldiers would come a new and stronger nation The new birth of freedom was not only for America but for all humanity a promise that government nbsp of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth This rebirth was also spiritual The nation would rise again with cleaner hands purer hearts and a stronger belief in equality The rebirth meant hope that the country could heal unite and live again in peace The metaphors of birth death and re-birth in Lincoln s Gettysburg Address show America s journey from struggle to renewal They turn sorrow into strength and teach that freedom is born from struggle tested by sacrifice and renewed by faith The speech reminds us that from death rises life and from pain a nation s soul is reborn