What is the author’s purpose in writing this speech? a) describe b) entertain c) inform d) persuade 12) what happened four years before lincoln delivered his first speech? a) an economic depression b) an assassination attempt c) the industrial revolution d) the beginning of civil war 13) where did most of the "colored slaves" live? a) alabama b) the north c) the south d) the union 14) "now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented." what is the meaning of the word expiration in the first paragraph? a) ending b) filling c) timing d) waiting