Based on Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and John F. Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” the similarities and differences between the texts are vividly clear. All throughout Lincoln’s Gettysburg address he discusses his want for listeners to preserve the nation and pay tribute to those who died fighting for this country’s liberty. Nearly 100 years later Kennedy paid homage to Lincoln by going on a pilgrimage to Gettysburg where he delivered the speech known as the “Inaugural Address.” Both speeches advocated for the want to grant liberty in America by any means necessary. Kennedy paraphrased part of Lincoln’s speech by declaring that,” In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.” Kennedy believed that achieving liberty in America was a collective effort made by the people, similar to how Lincoln believed that the state of the nation depended on its people to be preserved. The main difference between speeches is the execution. Lincoln was confident that liberty would be ensured while JFK seemed unsure but hopeful. Lincoln referred to the civil war as “unfinished work” because he saw the war as a guaranteed win, he was confident in the Union’s ability to win the war which would create a new birth of freedom in America. On the other hand, Kennedy acknowledged both possibilities of success or failure but with every stride he was willing to move mountains to reach real liberty. Kennedy proclaimed,“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” JFK was set on putting in the work to reach freedom while still accepting that failure might be an end result if the country’s efforts weren’t good enough. Lincoln didn’t accept failure to be an option which is evident in his fierce declarations of both freedom & victory. 

    After all the time that’s passed the United States still hasn’t fully reached the vision that both Abraham Lincoln & John F. Kennedy shared. Since the Gettysburg Address the Union did indeed win the Civil War and those lost at battle were honored both with memorials & holidays. Since the Inaugural Address this country has been successful in continuously fighting for liberty, freedom, & justice but we are still years away from changes that mirrored the longstanding success Kennedy hoped for.

Prison has the ability to force a person to confront issues within themselves that they spent their whole lives trying to run away from. Prison unlocked a world to Malcolm X that he ignorantly didn’t know existed. The narrative that literature is freeing comes from the fact that it’s the gateway to power. Malcolm X found himself rising in intelligence with every new word he learned and every book he read, “I suppose it was inevitable that as my word base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.” Prison introduced X to the world of literature that freed him from the mental bondage he maintained for years. Literature is linked directly to freedom because it assists a person in gaining knowledge that would’ve once been unimaginable. If Malcolm X wouldn’t have found the strength within prison to study literature, he wouldn’t have acquired the knowledge needed to be a leading figure in the civil rights movement. Malcolm X rhetorically stated,“Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.” Ironically Malcolm X’s experience in prison was freeing because it gave him time. Growing knowledge and studying literature takes up all the time in the world, so when placed in a setting where time was endless, X turned what would’ve been a dreadful experience into a freeing one. With studying literature Malcolm found the man he was destined to be and used literature to turn himself into that man. Freedom is finding access to a mindset where anything is possible. Literature gave Malcolm X the tools to reach that state of mind.