The Washington Weekly
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
By Elise Emmert
On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg to nearly fifteen-thousand people, about four months after the battle. President Lincoln spoke for a mere two minutes after a two-hour speech by the former governor of Massachusetts and former president of Harvard University, Edward Everett. President Lincoln's speech was both loved and hated by many people. Here are his words:
“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 battlefield 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 cannot 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 this earth.”
In just two-hundred and seventy-two words, President Lincoln has touched the hearts of the Northern United States. In these words, he has brought together all of the feelings of hope that this war may yet be won. The North is extremely fortunate to have such an eloquent speaker as a president. The Republican wrote, “His little speech is a perfect gem; deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful . . . in every word and comma.” Though it may be short, it is probably the most meaningful speech that has ever been given.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
By Elise Emmert
On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg to nearly fifteen-thousand people, about four months after the battle. President Lincoln spoke for a mere two minutes after a two-hour speech by the former governor of Massachusetts and former president of Harvard University, Edward Everett. President Lincoln's speech was both loved and hated by many people. Here are his words:
“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 battlefield 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 cannot 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 this earth.”
In just two-hundred and seventy-two words, President Lincoln has touched the hearts of the Northern United States. In these words, he has brought together all of the feelings of hope that this war may yet be won. The North is extremely fortunate to have such an eloquent speaker as a president. The Republican wrote, “His little speech is a perfect gem; deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful . . . in every word and comma.” Though it may be short, it is probably the most meaningful speech that has ever been given.
