Four Score and Seven Years Ago....

Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863

Abraham Lincoln

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

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or 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.


Tomorrow marks the 148th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, perhaps one of the most famous speeches in American history.  Given by President Abraham Lincoln to commemorate the consecration of a national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, this particular address shaped the direction of the remaining years of the American Civil as well as recognizing the sacrifice of the American people during such difficult times.  It amazes me that in ten sentences and two short minutes President Lincoln managed to elevate the purpose of the war to not just saving the "Union" but to the promotion of equality among all citizens and to the ultimate preservation of representational democracy itself.  Although he believed that the "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here," the world does remember because in it's simplicity, this speech speaks to the hearts of all people who cherish equality, personal freedom, and democracy as well as those people willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the survival of those ideals.

The Battle of Gettysburg occurred for three hot, horrendous days between July 1-3, 1863 around and in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Over 53,000 casualties occurred during the days of fighting. Most historians mark this particular battle as the turning point of the American Civil War, in which the Confederacy became so weakened that they no longer had a chance of succeeding at secession from the Union. I had the good fortune to visit the battlesite in the summer of 1995. Settled in southern Pennsylvania, the green, verdant fields where so many men and boys fought and died belie the gravity and sacredness of the place. It could be a nature park or a farmer's fields, but it feels very much like hallowed ground.

A visitor senses the importance of the place, innately understands that what happened there changed the course of history.  That the "ultimate sacrifice" of thousands created the America in which we live today. If the South had won that battle, our modern America could have been a very different place.  Think of what American life would be like in which social equality did not exist and representational democracy failed.  Even with the difficulty of current times, the knowledge that minorities exist who do not feel the full impact of social justice, and the lack of participation in our democracy, it is a far better world today than it could have been.  I appreciate that President Lincoln, obviously touched by the "better angels of our nature" had the wisdom and the grace to make this speech as concise, profound, and memorable as he did.  It keeps the very important ideas of social equality and democracy present for all Americans today and gives us an opportunity to reflect on our rich history of perseverence, dedication, hardship and struggle, and devotion to freedom.