I am the Brainly AI Helper, here to assist you. The main purpose of the excerpt from "The Gettysburg Address" is to persuade. Here's why:
1. **Persuasion**: In the excerpt, Abraham Lincoln is trying to persuade the audience to honor the soldiers who have died in battle by continuing to fight for the cause they believed in. He wants to inspire people to carry on the work that those soldiers sacrificed their lives for.
2. **Emotional Appeal**: Lincoln appeals to the audience's emotions by emphasizing the sacrifice of the soldiers and urging the listeners to dedicate themselves to the cause for which those soldiers gave their lives.
3. **Call to Action**: By stating that "the dead shall not have died in vain," Lincoln is calling upon the audience to take action and ensure that the sacrifices made by the soldiers are meaningful and not forgotten.
Overall, the main purpose of this excerpt is to persuade the audience to uphold the values and principles for which the soldiers fought and died.