Gettysburg Address

A detailed Summary of Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most celebrated speeches ever written. The author of this document was the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln wrote this speech for two reasons. First, the speech was written to consecrate the cemetery at Gettysburg. Second, and most important, Lincoln's words were meant to start the rebuilding of his war torn country.

The Battle of Gettysburg began 5:30am on July 1, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (McLaughlin 48). General Meade of the Union and General Lee of the Confederacy set up their men, each one trying to anticipate what the other would do. As the battle continued, it seemed to Lee that his men were dropping faster than Meade's. He Decided to retreat. When sundown came on July3, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg ended (McLaughlin 159). 23,040 Union soldier and close to 25,000 Confederate soldiers were dead. The confederates loaded up their dead and took them back to the South while the Union buried their fallen right there.

Four months after the battle, the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery was scheduled to begin. President Lincoln received an invitation on November 2, 1863, from Attorney David Wills, agent to the Governor of Pennsylvania. Wi

Lincoln, Abraham. The Gettysburg Address. Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865. New York: Library of America, 1989.

Garrison, Webb. The Lincoln No One Knows. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993.

Antietam Battlefield. HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~tshrader/

The dedication of the cemetery really only takes up about one sentence of Lincoln's address. The rest of the speech is used to stress the fact that Lincoln wants to rebuild his country and to make known the great sacrifice of the many people in the War. Most importantly, he wants the Civil War to end. This is even evident in Lincoln's "House Divided" speech, delivered June 16, 1858, three years before the Civil War. In this speech he states that "a house divided against itself cannot stand" (Speeches and Writings 426). President Lincoln then goes on to state that they, as people, cannot really dedicate the land. That had already been done by the soldiers who fought and died there. From there, Lincoln makes a sort of plea to the citizens of his nation to be "dedicated...to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced" (Speeches and Writings 536).

As the President is continuing his plea, he uses the word " great" again. This time he uses it to describe the tack of ending the Civil War. He is aware that it will take a lot of effort to end this awful war. In concluding his speech, President Lincoln sums it all up by saying "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" (Speeches and Writings 537). Lincoln is afraid that he is going to loose his, and the peoples country. It is important to him that this war end and the country be united again.

The Gettysburg Address was scoffed at when Lincoln was done talking. Most of the people did not realize the affect the speech would have because they missed it. They were expecting a great big, ling two hour deal, similar to Everett's oration and got two minutes. This surprised them so they considered it a failure.

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Category: History