Sevennscore and nine years ago, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln broughtnforth in this nation a very small, very impactful speech.
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nThenoccasion was the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery innGettysburg, Pennsylvania. The style of the day was for oratorsn(speakers) to go on and on with long, soaring speeches. And indeed,none of the most famous orators of the time, Edward Everett, had beenninvited to speak, and he wowed the crowd with two hours of grandnspeechifying. Then President Lincoln, who was coming down with a mildncase of smallpox and felt a bit ill, stood up and gave what he wasnasked to give: “a few appropriate remarks.”
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Justn272 words.
Justn272 words.n
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nA mere 10 sentences.
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nHenstarted and was finished in just a couple of minutes. The photographer missed taking a picture of him while speaking, he finished so unexpectedly quickly!
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nLincoln received very little, if any, applause. (Reports differ.)
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nAndnyet this speech, these 272 words, are considered one of the greatestnspeeches in American history!
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nLincolnnlooked at the founding principles of the U.S. within the prism of thenCivil War, and he restated the principles of human equality,nexpressed in the Declaration of Independence, within the context ofnthe ending of slavery. He talked about the preservation of the nation and finishednwith iconic words describing the American government: “…this governmentnof the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” n
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nFournscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continentna new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propositionnthat all men are created equal.
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nNownwe are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, ornany nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We arenmet on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate anportion of that field, as a final resting place for those who herengave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogethernfitting and proper that we should do this.
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nBut,nin a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we cannnot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strugglednhere, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add orndetract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we saynhere, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us thenliving, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work whichnthey who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rathernfor us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining beforenus—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to thatncause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that wenhere highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—thatnthis nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and thatngovernment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall notnperish from the earth.
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| The Gettysburg Address is carved on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial. |
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nChecknthese out…
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nInlike this animated video andnstirring reading ofnthe Gettysburg Address A LOT.
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nHerenis another videonabout the Gettysburg Address.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nMachu Picchu promoter Hiram Bingham’s birthday
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nDiscovery Day in Puerto Rico
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nGarifuna Settlement Day in Belize
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World Toilet Day
World Toilet Day n
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