The Gettysburg Address
Briefly the story of a Wrinkle in Time commences in a small town, where resides the Murry Family, but one member of the loving family, Mr. Murry, has
remained in absence for over a year. The protagonists – Meg Murry and Charles Wallace set out to find their father, with a friend named Calvin O’Keefe,
through interdimensional planets and time, aided by three mysterious women.
On chapter 7 of A Wrinkle in Time, the reader is presented for the first time with a fully-fledged, supposably-of-flesh antagonist, The man with the red
eyes. Though not being a primary antagonist, he/it plays an important part in the story, mainly penetrating the mind and defenses of Meg, Charles and
Calvin, on the planet Camazotz, where everything follows a rhythmic pattern. During the three children’s journey on Camazotz, they stumble upon a
man, ironically, with red eyes. The man attempts to invade upon their mind and take control over them, by forcing them to persistently repeat the times
table in rhythmic pattern. Charles Wallace is quick to recognize his strategy and warns the others to recite anything in order to fend off the hypnotizing
attack set to them. Meg being an ace at, is not affected by the attack, but the other two are vulnerable to it, therefore Charles starts yelling out loud
nursery rhymes, and Calvin a rather odd speech to outsiders of the United States. “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth in this
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal “. This speech is known as ‘The
Gettysburg Address’ given by Abraham Lincoln on November 19th, 1865, during the American Civil War, and though the name is never stated by Calvin, it
is confirmed within Meg’s thoughts on Chapter 9 ‘IT’ during her encounter with the final boss of Camazotz. Though I don’t doubt most generally most
people albeit student or citizen would treat the history of a foreign nation with uninterest under natural circumstances, this war, specifically civil war,
was the beginning of the freedom of slaves, and equal treatment between all humans. Just 85 years after the independence of the United States from
Great Britain, the country had gone from a state of turmoil to bloody war. This was mainly due to the dispute about slavery. America wasn’t just one
culture and one society; it was a federation of dozens of states. By 1848 America held nearly half of the entire North American continent. Naturally
multiple societies and cultures would bring diversity and differences among the nation. One such difference was that the North of the country had an
industrial economy and an anti-slavery population, whereas the south was a slave-based economy, depending on manual labor, with a pro-slavery
population. These differences could have been maintained if it weren’t for politics. The Northerners mainly supported the (Slavery) Abolitionist
Republican Party, and the Southerners – the Ani-abolitionist Democrat Party. Due to expansion the Southern states were quickly outnumbered by the
northern states. At the time, the President of The United States, was a northerner named Abraham Lincoln, born in a shack in Kentucky, self-taught and a
former lawyer. He knew slavery was a moral evil and had already spoken against it in public debates. But Lincoln had initially anticipated to control the
measure of slavery and believed it would naturally ‘die out’, fortunately History would soon make him bite the bullet. Once he had won the presidential
election, mistrust began to flourish among the southern states, even after he pledged to let the slaves be under their owners’ possessions, and one by
one the southern states started to secede from the Union to avoid being outvoted in judicial reforms/etcetera. The seceded states formed the
Confederate States of America, which the federal government declared an illegitimate rebellion. But any hope of all hostilities ending without fire
exchange had gone hellbound when the Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter which was then occupied by Union Forces. The civil war caused one of the
bloodiest conflicts in the history of the globe, lasting an elapsed 4 years. Brother upon brother fought against each other just over the dispute for the
freedom of 4 million humans. The capitals of the two factions Washington and Richmond were only 171 kilometers apart, and though it would be foolish
for the Confederacy militarily to fortify their capital at such dangerous proximity to the enemy; the anti-abolitionists had one key advantage – Valiant
Generals. General Robert E. Lee one such incredible general, would prove difficult to defeat; and despite being outnumbered his sly tactics brought him
glorious victories. The Union would continue persistently changing commanding generals, as most appeared too cautious and cowardly in battle. But in
the early years of the war, the Union declared it had been subjected to preserve the Union, now under pressure from black rights movements, and with
concerns of Europe intervening on the naval blockade on the Confederation, Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, making all black
men in the south, free or enslaved, upon the Union’s eye were citizens. Nearly a quarter of the Union’s army were black men fighting for their freedom.
On the very same day when the proclamation was issued, The Famous Battle of Gettysburg took place. General Robert E. Lee marched out of Richmond
and around Pennsylvania to encircle Washington D.C, but he was stopped just at the outskirts at a town called ‘Gettysburg’. Gettysburg saw intense
fighting, but in the end, General Robert would be repelled. The entire town had become one single hospital with volunteers nursing men from both sides.
A new national cemetery was established, for the burial and honoring of all men who sacrificed their lives, and President Lincoln was invited to attend
the opening ceremony. There he recited a speech now known as the Gettysburg Address, which Calvin had stated in defense. “Four score and seven
years ago, our fathers brought forth in this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal “- This is the entire purpose of the passage written, to understand what Calvin’ reiterated words meant. From politics, to war and blood, from
disputes to knives, all for one speech by one man, yet known by millions.
The Union would soon push the Confederate back to Richmond, and take control of the Mississippi and Atlanta (One of the most crucial cities for the
Confederates) from the east. By then, the Union Victory was imminent, but one such General Sherman removed 40,000 of his men from their supply line
and crossed from the north-west to south-east, destroying southern infrastructure and supply lines, while also liberating thousands of slaves. General
Ulysses S. Grant, had by then forced the Confederates out of their capital, laid siege upon Grant’s army and was set to meet up Sherman. But before that
the siege was broken, and Grant chased down Lee, until he finally surrendered to Grant on April 9th, 1965, ending all hostilities and aggression.
The US Civil war is not the first nor the last instance of Black Men fighting for their lives, or the Abolition of Slavery. But the most significant impact it had
upon the modern globe is that it was the first instance of White Men fighting in the thousands for black lives. When the war finally ended President
Lincoln passed the 14th Amendment, denying any sate from enforcing laws which may deprive citizens of their privileges, liberty or property. Lincoln
would continue his second term of presidency, this time at a time of peace. The War had been one with both unexpected, expected and gripping results
for him. Abraham Lincoln was just one young self-taught boy, born in a poor shack in Kentucky, who emerged as the President of The United States who
had seen to the abolition of Slavery, proving that no matter how absurd and ridiculously astronomical the odds may seem, within us resides the power
to do just about anything.