The Gettysburg address and its historical significance

Gettysburg Address

Starting with the words "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," the Gettysburg Address is one of the most cited and celebrated speeches in American history. The brief but meaty speech addresses all Americans during the Civil War. Although President Lincoln delivered the speech to a largely Union and therefore sympathetic audience, the wording and meaning behind the speech are unequivocally American. In fact, the main theme of the Lincoln Gettysburg Address is the preservation of the union and the perpetuation of the main principles upon which the nation was founded.

Abraham Lincoln delivered the address at the Gettysburg Cemetery and references to the deaths of soldiers give the speech its solemn tone. Lincoln refers to the "unfinished work" of the soldiers who had already perished serving their nation. The President affirms, "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." Without mentioning slavery once in the speech, Lincoln nevertheless alludes to the need to make equality for all a reality: regardless of race, culture, or creed.

Delivered while the Civil War was still raging, the Gettysburg Address mainly urges all Americans including those loyal to the Confederacy, to rethink the dream of the founding fathers. Lincoln almost utters a challenge to the secessionists, calling the Civil War a means of "testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." By using the word "testing," Lincoln begs those who advocate states' rights over the solidarity of the union to rethink their intentions. Lincoln frames the Civil War as one that fought to preserve the Union. Southern secessionists fought in favor of state sovereignty over the solidarity of the Union. On the other hand, Unionists fought for the preservation of the Constitution and its ideals.

Lincoln also uses the Gettysburg Address to honor and respect all soldiers, both living and dead. His moving speech offers heartfelt appreciation for those who left their families and the comforts of their homes for the sake of preserving the Union. Lincoln respectfully refrains from disparaging the secessionists. The President of the nation could do no less, considering that the main Union goal was to reunite North and South into one United States. Isolating or insulting the South would have been a dreadful political move for Lincoln. Unfortunately, the President did not live long enough to forge meaningful alliances with his political enemies and Reconstruction failed miserably.