The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.īut, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. Though Edward Everett, a great orator of the time, served as the keynote speaker and spoke for over two hours, Lincoln’s speech took only ten sentences and landed shy of 300 words, Everett recognized that Lincoln captured the spirit of the times better in two minutes than he did in two hours.įourscore 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.
He was invited to attend the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery give some brief remarks to commemorate the battle that took place just months before (July 1-3, 1863) where almost 30,000 Americans (Union and Confederate) gave their lives for their respective causes. If you’re a Civil War buff like I am, then you may know that today is the 152nd anniversary of the delivery of the Gettysburg Address by then President Abraham Lincoln.
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