The Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln By Matthew Wright

Personal History Born February 12, 1809 in a one room log cabin in the state of Kentucky On August the 4 th 1834 Lincoln (24) is elected to the Illinois General Assembly On August the 3 rd 1846 Lincoln is elected to the US House of Representatives as a member of the Whig Party

…Continued Personal History 1854 opposes the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act 1857 Lincoln speaks against the Dred Scott decision November the 6 th Lincoln is elected as the 16 th president of the US; and, he won the election over Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckenridge in so doing January the 1 st 1863 issues and ratifies the Emancipation Proclamation, thereby freeing all the slaves November the 19 th, 1863 delivers Gettysburg Address Intended audience: for the present and future generations

The Battle of Gettysburg The actual battle lasted for two days from July 1- July 3, 1863 Location was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in Adams County Commanders were: for the Union Gen. George G. Meade, for the CSA Gen. Robert E. Lee The armies were: for the Union the Army of the Potomac, and for the CSA the Army of Northern Virginia The Army of the Potomac had 93,921 soldiers, and the Army of Northern Virginia had 71,699 soldiers Casualties: Union suffered 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured/missing; for, the CSA 22,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured/missing) Result: the Union is victorious Gettysburg incursion also halted the CSA’s invasion of the North, and is seen as the focal point of the war

Main points Lincoln advocates the words of the Declaration of Independence; and, Lincoln accentuated the Civil War as not just a fight to preserve the Union, but to bring equality to “all” of its citizens: “…conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln also advocated the notion that the test of equality and liberty is indispensable: “Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

Main Points Continued… Lincoln’s speech also praises the soldiers, and their deaths did not go in vain: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget what they did here.” Lincoln believed that present and future generations must take up the cause of defending the Union: “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that these honored dead shall not have died in vain…” Lincoln advocates and espouses the writings of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall and the transcendental reverend Theodore Parker; for, they both believed that the Union is a government of, by, and for the people.

Main Points Continued… It is for this reason that Lincoln acknowledges the sacrifice, but explains why the struggle is important for future Americans to uphold and defend the Union: “…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.”

Questions to Consider Is the US a government of the people, or is it a government of the states? What is the significance of the Gettysburg Address, and why has it had such an profound effect on the American way of life?