Lincoln Had a Dream Too: The Role of Lincoln in MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech

At first glance, the most striking aspect of King’s famous speech is his use of tools of rhetoric commonly used by preachers, particularly in traditional African-American churches. I am referring to the moments in the speech when King appeals to the listener’s emotions by using vivid imagery and metaphor. For example, “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” and “[your] quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” But upon further examination, a more significant aspect of the speech became apparent to me. Within the first paragraph of King’s remarks he makes a reference to Lincoln’s Gettysburg address saying, “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” This part is meant to echo Lincoln’s famous quotation, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” but it serves a greater purpose than just a stylistic detail.

The first is to establish significance. By echoing Lincoln’s words, King elevates his own. The audience is meant to consider King’s speech to be of the same historic and cultural significance as Lincoln’s. Next, the reference to Lincoln’s speech is meant to embolden a sense of national allegiance in the audience. In the context of history, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address is not only inextricably linked to his fight to preserve the Union but also his fight to establish equality for all citizens. After the secession crisis in 1860 (in which South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas seceded) Lincoln made clear that the goal of the Civil War was not solely the preservation of the Union. So when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation he did so with two goals in mind: the end of slavery and the reunion of the Union.

Why is this important? By relating his own words to Lincoln’s King allowed his speech to serve as a historical checkpoint for the nation. The public was forced to recall Lincoln’s words, ideals and motives behind the Civil War and his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. By referencing Lincoln’s speech, it is made clear the progress that had been made at this point toward Lincoln’s original goal: to establish indisputable equality for all citizens.