4 nov 1863 - Gettysburg Address

Description:

Lincoln gives the Gettysburg Address four months after the Battle of Gettysburg at a cemetery in PA dedicated to fallen Union soldiers.

The address was around 3 minutes long and it followed the President of Harvard’s 2 hour speech. In 3 minutes it better commemorated the dead and unified the nation than the 2 hour speech.

Around 15,000 listened to his speech. Using biblical concepts of suffering, consecration, and resurrection, he described the war as a major chapter in the global struggle for democracy, liberty, and equality.

He stated that the Union had to remain dedicated to the war for which the dead had given “the last full measure of devotion.”

In his address, Lincoln honored the fallen and framed their sacrifices and the war as necessary to the survival and rebirth of the nation.

Significance: the speech helped unify the Nation at a crucial time. In the previous years, many Americans valued their state more than their country. His speech helped reverse this. It would go on to be one of the most famous speeches in the U.S. and would represent the country’s value of equality and freedom.

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