by Christi DuPre

Created on: April 16, 2008

Lincoln's "few appropriate remarks" delivered on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg have been analyzed again and again since that solemn day. Following the ceremony, the Chicago Tribune prophetically remarked, "The dedicatory remarks by President Lincoln will live among the annals of man." To the Springfield Republican, the president's words were, "deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma." Both of these commentaries touch on significance of that day and the ongoing distinction that the Gettysburg Address receives today.

Clearly the 272 words of the address are poignant for some because of the simple eloquence of the words and the weary but determined spirit of the man who delivered them. Others would declare that the speech prevails because it impresses the nation's resolve to preserve the equality of all men in one nation, under God. In 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., echoed the essence of that resolve in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech given at the largest civil rights rally in American history. Not coincidentally, it was delivered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. He began his speech in parallel with Lincoln's Gettysburg address, "Five score years ago, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation."

It is worthy of note that the content of Lincoln's speech never referenced the North or South, but five times referred to the "nation". It never rebuked the Confederacy for their rebellious secession. It never mentioned slavery, but spoke of equality for all men. The chosen words were meant to encourage a divided and war-torn nation to value unity above all else under the guiding principles of its founders.

He speaks of the dedication of the final resting place for the brave men that struggled there, but also of the dedication that the nation must have in completing the work that the men nobly advanced'. The repetition of these words was probably done for emphasis, since Lincoln was known for his cautious and careful choice of words in public address. In fact his personal secretary, John Nicolay noted in his journal that Lincoln took "great deliberation in arranging his thoughts and moulding his phrases, mentally, waiting to reduce them to writing til they had taken satisfactory form."

In summary, Lincoln's clear, expressive words honored the service of all men, living and dead, that had fought on the pivotal battleground at Gettysburg, yet gave the nation the charge to finish the struggle and unite. Lincoln stressed healing and laboring to sustain the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Today, the very same words may remind us to value the sacrifices that secured the liberty of the United States of America.

Olson, Steven P., Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: A Primary Source Investigation, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York. 2005.
http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-civil -war/gettysburg-address3.htm

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