The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived 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 dedicated can long endure. We are met on the battelfield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final-resting place for those who gave their lives that the nation might live. It is altogether 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, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract.The world will little note what we say here,but it can never forget what they did here.It is for us,the living,rather to be 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 the nation shall have a new birth of freedom,that the governance of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

Lecturer: Abraham Lincoln

Time: November 19, 1863

Place : Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States

Eighty-seven years ago, our forefathers created a new nation on this continent, conceived in liberty and committed to the principle that all men are created equal.

We are engaged in a great civil war that will test whether this nation, or any nation conceived and dedicated to these principles, can long endure.

We meet on a great battlefield in this war. We are here to dedicate a portion of that battlefield as a final resting place for the martyrs who gave their lives that this nation might survive. It is absolutely appropriate and appropriate for us to do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who fought here have consecrated this land more than our poor power can add or detract from. The world will seldom pay attention to what we say here today, nor will it long be remembered, but the world will never forget what the brave men and women did here. Rather, it is for us, the living, who should be here devoting ourselves to the unfinished work which the brave men have so nobly advanced. It is rather that we should devote ourselves here to the great task that still remains before us - that we should draw yet more devotion from these glorious dead to the cause to which they had so thoroughly and utterly devoted their lives; that we should be here We must make the utmost determination not to let these dead sacrifices be in vain; we must give our country a new life of freedom under the blessing of God, and we must ensure that this government of the people, by the people, and for the people will endure forever.