Abraham Lincoln's Speech: The Gettysburg Address

1895 Words4 Pages

The Gettysburg Address The Civil War was one of the bloodiest and deadliest conflicts in U.S History. In Gettysburg there were three consecutive days in July, were the most soldiers were hurt. There were a total of 51,000 soldiers who were missing, wounded, or dead (Goodheart 1). There was no place to bury all the dead. There were about 7,000 bodies of the soldiers left in the battlefield. Some were buried in shallow graves and had very little identification (Goodheart 1). With the heat and rain the town started to smell like decaying animals mixed with the odor of human bodies (Borrit 5). The governor decided to make a National Cemetery were all of the dead soldiers would have a place to be honored. This is where one of the famous addresses
As President Abraham Lincoln was delievering his speech he held the address in his hand. If he read from it or recited by memory no one will ever know (Carmiecheal 68). When he was done with his address the crowd was quiet, after a short pause a scattered applause started followed by cannons being fired to salute the president. Finally, President Abraham Lincoln got back on his horse and headed to Mr. Wills home (Carmicheal 72). The Gettysburg Address is one of Presidents Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speeches he had given. As the years pass by more historians try to analyze his address to see if they can determine what President Abraham Lincoln was trying to tell the people. In the article “Abraham Lincoln’s Invitation to Speak at the Gettysburg and the Meaning of the Gettysburg Address” Roger Norton mentions how President Lincoln’s main goal was to dedicate the battlefield to all the men who died and to explain to the nation why the Civil War was worth fighting
Depending on the generation, who is analyzing the meaning of the address, will vary. Historians have been trying to analyze President Abraham Lincoln’s address; some say he was trying to remind the people on what basis the country was established, which was liberty and equality. Eric Foner mentions in the book “Give Me Liberty! An American History” that Lincoln with his speech “identified the nation’s mission with the principle that “all men are created equal,” spoke of the war as bringing about a “new birth of freedom,” an defined the essence of democratic government” (529). Some say this was the beginning of Democracy. Adam Goodheart states, “Invoking the images of rebirth, and stressing the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, he gave Americans a new understanding of the war’s – and the nation’s purpose” (4). Mike Wereschagin mentions, “Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address planted a marker in the country’s unfolding history. The speech recast was as a struggle for something larger than the country over which it was fought”(1). As there are many different opinions on Presidents Lincoln intent regarding this address, at the end they all seem to have some connection based on how it is

Open Document