1863 : Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President
Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in
American history. In just 272 words, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly
reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the
Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the
single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course of three
days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went
missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war:
General Robert E. Lee's defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the
last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of
the Southern army's ultimate decline.
Charged by Pennsylvania's governor, Andrew Curtin, to care for the
Gettysburg dead, an attorney named David Wills bought 17 acres of
pasture to turn into a cemetery for the more than 7,500 who fell in
battle. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators
of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery's dedication. Almost
as an afterthought, Wills also sent a letter to Lincoln--just two
weeks before the ceremony--requesting "a few appropriate remarks" to
consecrate the grounds.
At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before
Lincoln spoke. Lincoln's address lasted just two or three minutes. The
speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just
a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for
all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the
war. This was his stirring conclusion: "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."
Reception of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was initially mixed, divided
strictly along partisan lines. Nevertheless, the "little speech," as
he later called it, is thought by many today to be the most eloquent
articulation of the democratic vision ever written.
history.com/tdih.do
1942 : Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5533
1969 : Pele scores 1,000th goal
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7086
1977 : Sadat visits Israel
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5534
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On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President
Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in
American history. In just 272 words, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly
reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the
Civil War.
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the
single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course of three
days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went
missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war:
General Robert E. Lee's defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the
last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of
the Southern army's ultimate decline.
Charged by Pennsylvania's governor, Andrew Curtin, to care for the
Gettysburg dead, an attorney named David Wills bought 17 acres of
pasture to turn into a cemetery for the more than 7,500 who fell in
battle. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators
of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery's dedication. Almost
as an afterthought, Wills also sent a letter to Lincoln--just two
weeks before the ceremony--requesting "a few appropriate remarks" to
consecrate the grounds.
At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before
Lincoln spoke. Lincoln's address lasted just two or three minutes. The
speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just
a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for
all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the
war. This was his stirring conclusion: "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."
Reception of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was initially mixed, divided
strictly along partisan lines. Nevertheless, the "little speech," as
he later called it, is thought by many today to be the most eloquent
articulation of the democratic vision ever written.
history.com/tdih.do
1942 : Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5533
1969 : Pele scores 1,000th goal
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7086
1977 : Sadat visits Israel
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5534
#########################################
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