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The Gettysburg Address is one of the most important and consequential speeches ever delivered in the entire history of the United States; it was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 when the U.S. was in the throes of the Civil War that arose over the question of the enslavement of African Americans. The occasion was the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, prompted by the three-day "rivers of blood" Battle of Gettysburg several months before (July 1-3) that had consumed the lives of thousands upon thousands and marked a major turning
The Gettysburg Address is one of the most important and consequential speeches ever delivered in the entire history of the United States; it was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 when the U.S. was in the throes of the Civil War that arose over the question of the enslavement of African Americans. The occasion was the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, prompted by the three-day "rivers of blood" Battle of Gettysburg several months before (July 1-3) that had consumed the lives of thousands upon thousands and marked a major turning
President Abraham Lincoln
point in the Civil War in favor of the North (the Union Army--specifically its unit, Army of the Potomac, led by George G. Meade) with the defeat of the South (the Confederate Army--specifically its unit led by Robert E. Lee). The speech articulated the broadening of the objective of the Civil War from not just the abolition of slavery but the construction of a new nation based on a true democracy: "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
point in the Civil War in favor of the North (the Union Army--specifically its unit, Army of the Potomac, led by George G. Meade) with the defeat of the South (the Confederate Army--specifically its unit led by Robert E. Lee). The speech articulated the broadening of the objective of the Civil War from not just the abolition of slavery but the construction of a new nation based on a true democracy: "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
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.
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.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Part of the Gettysburg National Military Park memorializing the Battle, in Pennsylvania
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