The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln did not go to war to free the slaves!!!
"My paramount objective in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it...What I do about slavery...I do because I believe it helps to save the Union..."
What is the "great task" that remains?
-reunification
What is the structural framework of the speech?
-starts in the past, progresses to the present, then looks to the future
Passed the bar exam in
1836 and began to practice law
Lincoln was not an abolitionist!!!
He believed the Constitution protected slavery where it currently existed (he actually fired a famous general for issuing an emancipation order!)-however he did object to slavery on moral grounds and tried to block its spread
Lincoln's father and step-mother were nearly illiterate,
and Lincoln received no formal education, however his step-mother loved him dearly and many stories say that she actually favored him over her own children!
1863-following important Northern victories at Vicksburg, Mississippi and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Lincoln was asked to speak at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg
twenty-four years later he was nominated as the
Republican candidate for President and won the election in 1860
Main Idea-
The nation was born dedicated to the idea of democracy; the present was a test to see whether such a nation could survive; and the future would be determined by the question of whether future generations could justify the sacrifices made in the war by rededicating their lives to freedom Lincoln defines democracy as gov't "of the people, by the people, for the people..."
Lincoln began to study law after moving to Illinois and
at age twenty-five was elected to the Illinois state legislature
Critics agree the "The Gettysburg Address" is Lincoln's
clearest and most eloquent, most lasting statement on American Democracy
Born in Kentucky, Lincoln mainly grew up on
frontier farms in Indiana, where he worked as a rail-splitter, flatboat man, storekeeper, surveyor and postmaster
Why did Lincoln say he could not dedicate/consecrate/hallow the Gettysburg ground?
he blood of all who had fought there already had
Because he believed that Congress should prevent the spread of slavery
his victory prompted seven Southern states to secede from the Union-the beginning of the Civil War
"The Gettysburg Address" is now known as the greatest speech of Lincoln's career
incoln's speeches tend to be precise, clear, and simple of thought and expression Commentators have identified birth, death, and time as central themes in is writings Lincoln uses literary devices such as parallelism and rhetorical questions in his writing (like Patrick Henry)
Lincoln treated his own life as
unremarkable-yet we see him as one of the greatest presidents