The Gettysburg Address

Agenda Gettysburg Background Notes Reading the address together (video Clips) Analysis class activity & Present – Rewrite together Primary Document Articles Left hand – Writing assignment

Background Notes

Founding Principles We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Who wrote this sentence? Where does it come from? What does it mean? (Liberty)

What was Lincoln’s position on slavery? Lincoln was adamantly opposed to slavery; however, as a lawyer, he believed strongly in the law. Slavery was legal in the Southern states. All he felt he could do was try to prohibit its spread. When the Southern states seceded, he was willing to go to war to preserve the Union, because to do that was to preserve the principles upon which the Union was founded. He made his position clear in the Gettysburg Address, widely considered one of the finest speeches in history.

Why was the Gettysburg Address Given? In the Gettysburg Address, which Lincoln delivered at the dedication of a new cemetery for the soldiers killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was Lincoln’s effort to honor the sacrifice of the soldiers while reminding the American people why the war was being fought and why the deaths were justified. He wanted to inspire them to continue their commitment to the war by reminding them of the moral vision of the founding fathers.

Read the Gettysburg Address https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIXBYDFsH_jNiQMA_b7zEO_G8VIoR2_qP

Gettysburg Address 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. 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.

What does it mean???? In groups of two or three, you will be assigned a portion of the Gettysburg address. Read the portion of the address and look up any words you do not know. Answer the corresponding questions on the sheet of paper. Translate the “section” into your own words.

Re-write The Address Activity RIGHT – As a class or individually… Rewrite the Address in your own words.

Modern Translation 87 years ago, the Founding Fathers created a brand new country here based on the idea that everyone is equal. Now, we are at war with ourselves, and this war is testing whether that kind of country can survive.  A battle of this war was fought right here where we are standing.  We are here today to dedicate a part of this battlefield as a cemetery for the soldiers that died here. This is the right thing to do. There is no way that we can ever bless this ground today more than the soldiers that died here already have.  We can’t even come close.  No one is going to care or remember the words we say here, but no one can ever forget what those soldiers did here.  It’s up to the rest of us that are still alive to dedicate ourselves to finishing what these soldiers have started.  It’s up to us to dedicate ourselves to saving the country, and remind ourselves that people have died for this cause.  We have to promise that the soldiers here did not die for nothing. We have to promise that this country, under God, will be free again.  We have to promise that a country that is made up of the people, was created by the people, and made to serve the people can exist in this world.

News Articles Read BOTH news articles about the Gettysburg Address. Not everyone was happy about the Gettysburg Address…. Different perspectives on the address. Summarize & Compare/Contrast the news articles on the bottom of the right hand side.

LEFT Hand Side PICK ONE WRITING PROMT FOR THE LEFT HAND SIDE. A persuasive paper either defending the Gettysburg Address as one of the best speeches in American history, or arguing that it was not. You may use your rubric for examples of its greatness as an oration, but make sure to also speak to the context and historicity of the event too. Imagine that you were in attendance of the Gettysburg Address. Write a narration that includes your reaction to the oratory as well as breaking down what the speech says to you as someone living in during the Civil War.