Early American History - Abraham Lincoln - Essay Example

Early American History - Abraham Lincoln What is the document? The Gettysburg Address (The Avalon Project, 1997) What year was it made? November 19, 1863 Who was the person(s) who made it? Abraham Lincoln 2. What facts about the author(s) and the subject of the document help you to understand the purpose of the document? President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was delivered at the site in Pennsylvania where four months previous, more than 50,000 soldiers from both sides of the Civil War were killed or wounded. This battle at Gettysburg took the lives of more Americans than any other in history and was a decisive turning point of the Civil War. The three-day bloodbath ended with a massive Confederate assault of Cemetery Ridge by Major General George Edward Pickett on the battle’s last day, July 3, 1863. Known as ‘Pickett’s Charge,’ the reckless action devastated the Confederate forces and caused General Robert E. Lee to offer his resignation. The enormous losses incurred by the Confederates at Gettysburg marked the beginning of the end for the South. The Union army won the battle but also incurred heavy losses causing Commander General George Meade to offer his resignation as well. While Lee was retained as commander of the South, Meade was replaced by an angered President Lincoln who appointed Ulysses S. Grant in Meade’s position. After the battle, the Southern troops limped back home while what remained of the Northern army stayed because of flooding in the area. At Gettysburg, many thousands of decomposing bodies littered the battlefield, many of which were buried in very shallow graves. According to a witness, “body parts stuck up here and there. Hogs rooted out the bodies and devoured them” (Wills, 1992 p. 21). To alleviate the gruesome situation, a national cemetery was planned so that the dead could be buried properly. The dedication of the cemetery was held before all the thousands of bodies could be buried, but it was hoped that a formal and somber ceremony would serve to change the horrific scene of butchery to a place of honor and one that displayed a more peaceful ambiance. The President of Harvard University, Edward Everett, was the featured spokesman at the Gettysburg dedication ceremony, not Lincoln. Everett, a celebrated speaker, gave a stirring two hour oration. Lincoln’s comments comprised less than 300 words. Though very brief, his Gettysburg Address is still regarded as one of the country’s most revered speeches because it eloquently spoke of subjects that went far beyond the battle or the war. It has been widely rumored that Lincoln quickly wrote the speech on the way to the ceremony but, evidenced by the extensive ideological thought it contained, the contents of the Address had been contemplated by Lincoln for quite some time. He was well aware that this speech was important, not only for his political career but for a divided nation deeply mired in a terribly costly war. The cemetery dedication speech by the President at a battle of this magnitude was certain to be widely reported by all newspapers, North and South. Lincoln realized his speech was an exceptional opportunity to speak to the nation. The speech did not reference the battle at Gettysburg or the dividing issue of slavery. It instead was intended to define the purpose of the war and of the nation. “Lincoln is here not only to sweeten the air of Gettysburg, but to clear the infected atmosphere of American history itself, tainted with official sins and inherited guilt. He would cleanse the Constitution” (Wills, 1992 p. 38). 3. What, exactly was the purpose of the document? The ultimate goal of the Gettysburg Address was to change the minds of a nation. Until that speech, the document considered the basis by which the country was founded and by what measure decisions should be made affecting its future was the Constitution alone. Lincoln effectively changed the perception of a national foundation based only on the Constitution to one which also embraces the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln’s purpose for this change of national perception was his desire to abolish slavery although his precise motive for freeing the slaves is subject to debate. The Constitution contains no provisions that disallow slavery. This, America’s guideline for governing, was written when many of the signers including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and contains many compromises and ambiguities by the Founding Fathers. The Declaration of Independence, penned by Jefferson, also originated at this time in history but this document includes the word ‘equal’ unlike the Constitution. Lincoln’s method by which to legitimize the abolition of slavery nationwide was to, in essence, change the rules. His Emancipation Proclamation, presented earlier that same year, was not based upon the Constitution but justified on military reasoning. Lincoln publicly affirmed that that freeing the slaves was simply an essential tool meant to help conquer the Confederacy. Abolitionists along with Lincoln needed more than the Constitution as a platform by which to further their cause. They found the solution in these words: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’ (Library of Congress). Lincoln used his Gettysburg Address to insert the Declaration of Independence as the nation’s underlying standard of character. If successful, slavery would be unacceptable not only by law but in the hearts of the people. Preserving the idea that the nation was, ‘…dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,’ is, according to Lincoln’s Address, the reason that the Union soldiers were fighting the Civil War (Wills, 1992 p. 146). 4. Summarize the main points in the document. The first line of Lincoln’s Address, ‘four score and seven years ago’ is one of, if not the most well-known line of any speech in American history. This refers to 1776, the year the country was born. The remainder of the first paragraph speaks of the aforementioned equality for all men. The second paragraph speaks to the present conflict and that those who died did so to preserve a nation founded on the principle of equality. The third paragraph speaks to the future. Those that live should carry on with the ‘unfinished work’ of those that have died as the way to honor their sacrifice. The Address tied together the precepts of those who founded the country to the present battle and indicates the future direction of the country should be based on the past and present (Donald, 1997 p. 461, The Avalon Project, 1997). Contained in the second paragraph’s first line, the war was ‘testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,’ could endure. Lincoln seemed to imply that the country was essentially an experiment, a method of governing that had never been attempted. This new nation was first ‘dedicated to the proposition’ that equality was an inherent right. This was why the reuniting of the nation was so important; so the noble experiment would not fail. Lincoln intended to remind the country of these ideals by the words ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth’, indicating that the loss of the war by the Union would result in the failure of uniquely American ideals for not only this country but all others as well who might try to emulate it in the future. The war was being fought on American soil but was significant to all of human history, past, present and future. Lincoln’s sentiments were not new. Alexander Hamilton wrote in 1787, “We are now arrived at a new era in the affairs of men, when the true principles of government will be more fully unfolded than heretofore and a new world as it were grown up in America” (Storing, 1985 p. 280). 5. What event(s) or arguments were important at the time just before, during, or after your document was made? The cemetery dedication on November 19, 1863 followed the July battle, the largest of the Civil War and one of the few to take place north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The Confederates lost 28,000 (dead, missing, wounded); the Union 23,000 in the three-day altercation. The losses by both sides were somewhat comparable but the union won the battle. Gettysburg was a defining battle of the war because it was among the first victories by the Union and because the Confederacy lost a much larger percentage of its forces than did the Union. The day following the battle, the wounded Confederate soldiers were loaded into wagons but the dead had to be abandoned as the greatly reduced grey-clad soldiers made their way back to the Virginia. President Lincoln believed that if the Union soldiers had pursued the Confederates, instead of fighting to what was essentially a draw, the battle could have been much more than a turning point in the war. In a letter to Union Commander Meade, which was not delivered, Lincoln claimed Meade “missed a golden opportunity to end the war right there” (The History Place, 1996). Slavery was an emotional topic in which everyone in the country at the time maintained a strong opinion. It was not specifically mentioned in the Address although it was an underlying reason for the war and undoubtedly the central theme of Lincoln’s speech (Wills, 1992 p. 37). Lincoln and those of abolitionist ideology acknowledged that slavery was a part of the American culture and of vital economical concern to Southerners. However, slavery, they held, was simply a product of what had existed before the Declaration of Independence was written. This document is the country’s charter, its reason for forming its own union. The Constitution is the country’s legal guidelines but the two do not contradict. Therefore, since 1776, slavery has been incompatible with the very reasoning stated by the Founding Fathers for forming the country. Lincoln pointed to the founder’s actions to eradicate slavery such as banning it in many parts of the new country and believed their intention was for the practice to eventually fade from society. “Perhaps Lincoln overstates the fathers’ view on the subject for there surely were some for whom this was not true, but on the whole, he is correct most of the founders thought just as he said even those among them who were large slave-owners, like Washington, Jefferson and Madison” (Wills, 1992 pp. 38-9). 6. Who had a different point of view at that time? Lincoln’s motives and actions intended to change the collective conscience of the nation is universally applauded today and considered the earliest beginnings of the Civil Rights movement. During his presidency however, Lincoln was, of course hated by Southerners and questioned by many in the North for engaging the South too aggressively, especially following the carnage at Gettysburg. Northerners were generally ready to fight for the Union but not many were willing to die simply to end slavery in the South. They believed that Lincoln used the ‘Emancipation lever’ as a punishment for the Southern States that broke apart the country and declared war. In addition, not all of the press coverage of the Gettysburg Address was as favorable as Lincoln had hoped. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania newspaper demeaned the Address as ‘silly remarks’ and declared the President was ‘more like a well-trained monkey than a man of sense and a gentleman’ (Explore PA History, 2003). The reaction of the crowd present for the Address was officially reported as loud and supportive but other accounts such as reporter W.H. Cunningham describe the response as silent before, during and after the speech. “The audience had uttered not a word, not a cheer, not a shout” (Lamon, 1872). Works Cited ExplorePAHistory.com. “War Chapter Four: ‘Gettysburg Address’.” Abraham Lincoln and the Politics of the Civil War. (2003). October 22, 2006 “Gettysburg Address.” The Avalon Project. (1997). Yale University Law School. October 22, 2006 The History Place. “Battle of Gettysburg” October 22, 2006 Lamon, Ward Hill. The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Boston: James G. Osgood and Company, (1872). Library of Congress. “Declaration of Independence.” October 22, 2006 Storing, Herbert J. The Anti-Federalist: An Abridgment of the Complete Anti-Federalist. Abridgment by Murray Dry. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press. (April 21, 1985). Wills, Gary. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Reshaped America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. Read More