The Gettysburg Address - Essay Example

The Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address, by President Abraham Lincoln, can arguably be considered the mostfamous recorded speech in the history of mankind. The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) was the decisive conflict of the American Civil War, which turned the tide against the Confederacy. It was fought in Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of the small town of Gettysburg. The Confederate army of 75,000, under General Robert E. Lee, filled with the confidence of successive victories, invaded the North. They were met by the Union Army of the Potomac, numbering 90,000, under Major General George Meade. They constituted the last line of defense between Lee and the Union capital of Washington D.C. On the third day, the Confederate Army’s frontal assault was repulsed and the Battle of Gettysburg was won by the Union forces. This was the only battle waged in the North and resulted in 23,000 causalities for the Union Army. The Confederates lost 28,000 (BookRags Web site). In the aftermath of the battle, the dead lay unburied, or were hastily bundled into makeshift graves in the fields. Pennsylvania’s Governor, Andrew Curtin, commissioned a reputed local Attorney, David Wills, to purchase land to serve as an appropriate cemetery for the Union dead. This resulted in the acquisition of the 17 acres of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. While the work of reinterring the Union dead from the field graves to the cemetery was still in progress, the cemetery was formally dedicated on 19 November, 1863. At present, the cemetery is home to over 6,000 American service men who died in the Civil War, Spanish-American War, the World Wars and the Vietnam War (Gettysburg.com Web site). On 19 November, 1863, President Lincoln, members of his Cabinet, Governors of the Northern States and Civil and Military Officials gathered at Gettysburg, along with a crowd of about 15,000 citizens. A crude platform had been constructed on the battlefield, with journalists seated on one side and the dignitaries on the other. The keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony was Edward Everett from Massachusetts, an ardent Unionist and renowned Orator, who was considered one of the best speakers of the time. Everett spoke for 2 hours, giving a fiery speech which included classical references and historical comparisons and condemned the Confederate attempt to end the Union. Everett’s speech was followed by some singing and then, it was President Lincoln’s turn (CET Web site). David Wills, the organizer of the ceremony, had sent Lincoln the following invitation, almost as an after thought: “It is the desire that, after the oration, you, as Chief Executive of the Nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks” (Allen, 2005). According to the eyewitness account of John Russell Young, a Philadelphia journalist, “The President arose, he stood for an instant, waiting for the cheers to cease, slowly adjusted his glasses and took from his pocket what seemed to be a page of ordinary paper, unfolded it and began to read” (Allen, 2005). What followed was the 272 word, two minute speech, one of the greatest ever made. 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. There are five known manuscript copies of the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln is known to have written the speech in Washington D.C. and then worked on it again at Gettysburg, at David Wills’ home, where he spent the night of 18 November. The earliest copy, called the ‘first draft’ is exhibited at the Library of Congress and was given by Lincoln to John Nicolay, his private secretary. According to Nicolay, the first part of the speech, written in ink on executive Mansion Stationary, was written in Washington, while the second page, written in pencil on lined paper, was written on the eve of the dedication in Gettysburg. The folds which clearly remain on the pages indicate that this could be the ‘reading copy’ used by Lincoln. An argument against this assumption is that there are differences in words and phrases between the copy and reported accounts of the speech. The most significant difference is the absence of the words “under God” in the last sentence. After Nicolay’s death, the copy came into the procession of John Hay, Nicolay’s friend and Lincoln’s other private Secretary. Hay also received a copy of the address from Lincoln. This ‘second draft,’ thought to have been made on Lincoln’s return to Washington, differs in words and punctuations from the first draft. These two drafts are considered the earliest and most authoritative versions of the speech and were donated to the Library of Congress by Hay’s descendants in 1916. The third manuscript is one which Lincoln gave to Edward Everett, the Gettysburg orator, and is now in the Illinois State Historical Library at Springfield. The fourth, now found at Cornell University, is a copy given by Lincoln to the historian George Bancroft.The Lincoln room of the White House has the last copy, written by Lincoln for Colonel Alexander Bliss, Bancroft’s grandson (Library of Congress). Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, mainly because of its brevity, particularly coming after Everett’s 2 hour oration, surprised the audience, which reacted with lukewarm, polite applause. Lincoln himself was dissatisfied and told his friend, Ward Hill, who had introduced him at the ceremony, “That speech won’t scour. It is a flat failure.” Even later, Lincoln would insist “I Failed, I failed and that is about all that can be said about it” (Allen, 2005). The reaction of the media was mixed. The Chicago Tribune was vicious: “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dish watery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States (Allen, 2005). The Chicago Times was indignant over Lincoln’s categorical assertion that “all men are created equal,” which attempted to enshrine the ideals of Jefferson and the Founding Father’s and superseded the Constitution. The newspaper condemned Lincoln for his libel of “the statesmen who founded the Government,” who were considered to be “men processing too much self respect to declare that Negroes were their equals, or were entitled to equal privileges” (McFeely, The New York Times). It contended that Union soldiers died to defend the Union and the Constitution and not the equality of men that Lincoln upheld. Still others considered it but a propaganda speech for the war and considered the short, plain-spoken words to be an insult to the memory of the Union dead. Edward Everett recognized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address for the masterpiece it was and wrote to Lincoln praising “the thoughts offered by you, with such eloquent simplicity and appropriateness, at the consecration of the cemetery. I should be glad, if I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in 2 hours, as you did in 2 minutes” (Allen, 2005). As the speech reached out across the nation, its beauty and meaning were increasingly appreciated. One newspaper asked, “Could the most elaborate and splendid orator be more beautiful, more touching, more inspiring, than these thrilling words of the President?” (BookRags Web site). Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has withstood the test of time to remain “One of the single greatest utterances in the English language.” (Philip B.Kunhardt, cited in BookRags Web site). It has come to symbolize not just the sacrifice of those who died at Gettysburg, but the very spirit of the American people and the American Union. Works Cited: Allen, Jonathan R. Gettysburg, 1863, Abraham Lincoln (2005). The Civil War. A Blog by Nella_Ware. 23 May 2007 < http://www.nellaware.com/blog/?p=7 > BookRags Web site. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln from American Civil War Reference Library. (2006) 23 May 2007. < http://www.bookrags.com/research/the-gettysburg-address-by-abraham-l-acwr-04/> CET Web site (2006) ESL Activities Online. Gettysburg Address. 23 May 2007 < http://www.tcet.com/eaonline/AmericanStories/as-gettysburg.html> Gettysburg.com Web site. Gettysburg Address Information (2006). 23 May 2007 < http://www.gettysburg.com/bog/ga.htm> Library of Congress (2005). The Gettysburg Address. The Gettysburg Address Drafts. 23 May 2007 < http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gadrft.html> McFeely,William. The New York Times. June 7, 1992, Late Edition. How We Were Created Equal. 23 May 2007. < http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:KKZ9CZn3ZbcJ:www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/wills-lincoln.html+criticism+of+gettysburg+address&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=23&gl=in&client=firefox-a> Read More