The Gettysburg Address–so short but deep. Does it really define what America was? Does it describe what America really is?
Out of all the American speeches, all the inaugural addresses, all those special sentences and phrases that just seem to jump out of some of the speeches that have been given over the years, what makes The Gettysburg Address so special?
Is there a particular phrase or sentence that grabs you? Is the speech over-rated? Why is it important and what has preserved it during the past 150 years? How come the Gettysburg Address wasn’t given, then tucked away in the archives, only seen and studied by historians? Did brevity add to its uniqueness and make the speech more memorable? Was it the austerity of the event–the dedication of the Gettysburg Battlefield that makes this almost poetic bit of prose so recognizable?
What speeches have you had to learn and under what circumstances? Does memorizing help us really understand the content of a speech better? Why are students required to memorize different speeches and sections from literature?
Discussion. Your thoughts on the matter, please.
The dearth of comment is, in part at least, attributable to how complete the Address was. Lincoln said all that could be said in just a few words.
The Gettysburg Address–so short but deep. Does it really define what America was? Does it describe what America really is?
Was
Is there a particular phrase or sentence that grabs you?
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are equal.”
Why is it important and what has preserved it during the past 150 years?
It was to dedicate a memorial to the most bloody and decisive battles of the civil war.
Was it the austerity of the event–the dedication of the Gettysburg Battlefield that makes this almost poetic bit of prose so recognizable?
Couldn’t have said it better myself, perfect.
CD: re your “was” comment – Lincoln’s Gettysburg remarks did mark an important time watershed. However, I think he was defining a break from what “had been” the prevailing national image to that point and pointing to a “could be” that represented a full flowering of ideals found not in the Owner’s Manual (the Constitution) but much more directly derived from the Declaration of Independence. Whether we ever really achieved the “could be” that Lincoln saw so clearly is arguable among people of good will (and cranks, for that matter), but that he resurrected the language of the Declaration so permanently is something for which we can all be perpetually grateful.
I heard a lecture way back in the early 1960s in which an eminent American political historian said something to the effect that America is the only country that perceives itself to have been born in a state of perfection, but that nonetheless strives constantly for improvement. I don’t think that statement is accurate any more – we now largely just strive to denigrate our political opponents – but I think it was true through most of our existence. Some great measure of the impetus for our striving comes from Lincoln’s unique articulation, not just in the Address but in so many of his speeches and even casual utterances, of what America should be.