Today In History: Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg Address

Today In History: Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg Address

 

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On November 19th, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered an address at the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in honor of the dead Union soldiers and those who would continue to die during the Civil War for the pursuit of freedom, equality, and democratic ideals. A short speech of  272 words that lasted a mere couple of minutes, the Gettysburg Address would go down in history as one of the most perfect and impactful speeches of all time, following the 50,000 that died, were wounded, or went missing after the battle that took place in and around Gettysburg from July 1st to July 3rd, 1863.  Not only did this famous speech push the abolition of slavery, but also the reunification of the Union through the metaphor of birth or new life, with belief in the preservation of government of, by, and for the people. Interestingly, the featured speaker at Gettysburg was Edward Everett, Ambassador to Great Britain and one of the nation's esteemed orators, who spoke for a full two hours -- but to much less acclaim.

The Gettysburg Address has been studied in classrooms, interpreted in scholarship, and subject to award winning research -- notably by historian and journalist Garry Wills, whose book, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America (New York: Simon and Schuster, c1992), won a Pulitzer Prize the year after it was published. At Teachers College, Professor Louis Forsdale created an historical time capsule that drew attention to both Lincoln's speech and Willis' interpretation as signifiying two "revolutions": the first, in the literary style of politicians, and the second, in our understanding of the Constitution of the United States.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

 

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