The Gettysburg Address

[AuntShecky]

Abraham Lincoln was born on this day two hundred years ago. The following is his Gettysburg Address, one of our finest examples of prose.

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 this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot 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 to 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.

November 19, 1863

[Bancini]

The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

Wonder what Lincoln would think...seems most remember more details of his speech than of the battle

[country doctor]

well there's a helluva lot more details in the battle to remember.

[country doctor]

i heard tonite that there will be a book released every week this year on lincoln. here's one that i had the chance to read that focuses on his writings and speeches and the 'power of words'. i can highly recommend it. great written stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Sword-Presidency-Power-Vintage/dp/1400032636/ref=pd_sim_b_1

[Virgil]

It is a magnificent speech, the biblical diction, the iambic rhythm, the cumulative syntax, the religious connotations, and the echoes from the Declaration of Independence. Of all the great lines, these just make my throat swell:


But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot 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 to detract.
The blood of the fallen have consecrated (to consecrate from latin, consecratus, to make sacred) the ground. These mere words are just empty to the struggle and sacrifice that occured.

[Dori]

Wonder what Lincoln would think...seems most remember more details of his speech than of the battle

I'll wager the majority of the people know more about the American Civil War than about the Gettysburg Address. Ask the average person about the Civil War and they'll most likely be able to tell you at least something. Ask about the Gettysburg Address, and you likely get a weird look.

Unless you're talking to an educated person.

But you know how it is these days...:p

[papayahed]

Doesn't everybody have to learn the gettsyburg address in like the 6th grade?

[Virgil]

Doesn't everybody have to learn the gettsyburg address in like the 6th grade?

I think it was high school for me. But yeah or has American education continued to deteriorate?

[kratsayra]

Doesn't everybody have to learn the gettsyburg address in like the 6th grade?


I think it was high school for me. But yeah or has American education continued to deteriorate?

I memorized it in 8th grade, and re-reading it brings back memories. But it was extra credit to memorize and perform it. So perhaps education is changing, Virgil.

[Dori]

I think it was high school for me. But yeah or has American education continued to deteriorate?

Well, I dunno. We studied the Gettysburg Address in our junior year. and, of course, it has been mentioned on and off in American history courses and such. However, at least at my school, more time is spent studying the happenings of the Civil War than the Gettysburg Address. And to highschoolers, what do you think would seem more interesting to learn about: a war or a speech?

[Virgil]

Well, I dunno. We studied the Gettysburg Address in our junior year. and, of course, it has been mentioned on and off in American history courses and such. However, at least at my school, more time is spent studying the happenings of the Civil War than the Gettysburg Address. And to highschoolers, what do you think would seem more interesting to learn about: a war or a speech?

Well, the speech is a magnificent speech, as important as the Declaration of Independence. Frankly other than the Civil War occurring, I didn't learn that much about the details.

[Dori]

Well, the speech is a magnificent speech, as important as the Declaration of Independence. Frankly other than the Civil War occurring, I didn't learn that much about the details.

I agree, the speech is amazing.
And so is the Declaration of Independence.

In US history we learned about some of the major battles (Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg, etc.), about Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, and about the major causes and effects (especially the causes and effects, I should say).

We spent a day in English class (yes, English class), studying the Gettysburg Address.

But to be honest, I preferred that day in English class to those spent in US history (mainly due to a preference for the English teacher of the US history teacher :D ).

[Bancini]

I'll wager the majority of the people know more about the American Civil War than about the Gettysburg Address. Ask the average person about the Civil War and they'll most likely be able to tell you at least something. Ask about the Gettysburg Address, and you likely get a weird look.

Would make an interesting poll....

In what battle did Pickett's charge occur?
What speech begins with "Four score and seven years ago"?

[country doctor]

the speech is great. the courage of all those soldiers greater. something lincoln understood at the time, and he's still right.
the bravery of these young soldiers is something that i'll never forget. try putting yourself in their shoes, and i think you'll see what i mean, and what lincoln did too.

[MarkBastable]

Doesn't everybody have to learn the gettsyburg address in like the 6th grade?


Not everybody, no. Only Americans.