The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address was speech given by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech followed the Battle of Gettysburg in which over 40,000 men lost their lives. Lincoln went to Gettysburg to dedicate a cemetery to honor the men that had died in the battle. In the speech, Lincoln spoke for about two minutes. Nonetheless, it became one of the most famous speeches in American history.

The Text

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, 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 so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should 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 struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here 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 we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . 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 perish from the earth.

The Assignment

1. Look up the underlined words in the dictionary. I would suggest using Dictionary.com or Answers.com. Write the definition that best fits what Lincoln was saying. You could also use the Microsoft Word dictionary.

2. Rewrite the Gettysburg Address substituting new words for the underlined words.

Answer the rest of the questions using complete sentences in your notebook.

3. How did Lincoln describe the creation of the nation in his speech?

4. What do you think Lincoln meant when he stated that the participants in the battle should not have died in vain?

5. At the end of the speech, Lincoln says about the nation "shall not perish from the earth." Why is he afraid of this?