The Gettysburg Address Delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863 15,000 spectators were in attendance Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865 • Born 1809 in Kentucky to uneducated farmers in a one room log cabin (making him the first President born outside of the 13 colonies) • Mother died when he was 9 years old. Became very close to stepmother. • Formal education was only 18 months. Very well read and mostly self educated. • Skilled in wrestling and using an axe. • Stood 6 ft. 4 in. tall. • Married to Mary Todd, whose family owned slaves. • Had four sons. Only one survived into adulthood, Robert Lincoln. • Elected to Illinois General Assembly in 1834 • Elected to US House of Representatives in 1846 • Elected 16th President (first Republican) of the US in 1861 Historical Context Battle of Gettysburg – Battle was July 1-July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – Approximately: • • • • 163,000 soldiers fought the battle over 7,500 were killed 27,000 were wounded 11,100 were captured or missing – The southern forces were defeated Abraham Lincoln • Leader of the Republican Party in 1860 • Becomes the 16th President of the United States receiving 40% of the popular vote • Southerners called him the “Black Republican” Gettysburg Address • The address was about a 2 minute speech given by President Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery. – Given 4 months after the costliest battle of the Civil War. • Total casualties of the War to this time 472,154 • This battle alone had 54,707 casualties Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address (1863) Main Points: • It is time we talk about the promise of equality. – “…a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” • We honor the soldiers sacrifice. – “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” – “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us” • The Union is worth fighting for. – “—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not parish from the earth.”