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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Today in History: the Gettysburg Address |
| 2007-11-19 |
| 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 created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any other 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 died that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can not 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 have not 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. - Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #15 Richard, do read the accompanying essay, too. And if you work in a profession where PowerPoint is used, you might want to take Edward Tufte's course on how to fight against it. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-11-19 23:06 |
| #14 Eric, that is hysterical! The son has been in the military for a while now, so a PowerPoint is something he's quite familiar with. I will email him the link. Thanks again! |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2007-11-19 22:18 |
| #13 The 'back of the envelope' legend was just that— a legend, Mark. Lincoln was always extremely careful with his formal speeches. Richard, perhaps you should show your son Peter Norvig's updated version of the speech. I'm pretty sure he's been exposed to PowerPoint enough. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-11-19 22:01 |
| #12 Southerners began Fisking the speech, a century before Fisk. I'll let them do it. Ironically, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ended enslavement not slavery, which existed around Gettysburg, Penn during the war. Slavery died when the South lost and even residual forms became repugnant in the North. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-11-19 18:50 |
#11 I happen to think the Second Inaugural is Lincoln's greatest speech, but either way, it's a close call.One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." That rocks! |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-11-19 18:45 |
| #10 Contrary to my daughter's belief, I did not live through the Civil War era. For a long time my youngest son insisted that I'd been born "when dinosaurs ruled the Earth." Kinda sad when the moment comes when a kid realizes that's not so; sorta like when they discover that there's really no Santa Claus. I lost stature then. But kids grow up and so has he; he's getting married next year, and I'm informed that grandchildren will be forthcoming in short order-- whereupon I can regain my status as a "living fossil." |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-11-19 17:41 |
| #9 And after he gave his address, Lincoln came down with a type of smallpox. "Finally", he said, "I have something no one wants." |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-11-19 17:35 |
| #8 What he's saying makes sense. And the NEA can't have kids learning THAT. Not when there's so much to learn about recycling and drowning polar bears and how Becky has two mommies--and how that's cool--and how Timmy has a mommy and a daddy and that is so, like, bizarre... |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-11-19 17:21 |
| #7 Lincoln address was billed as "Remarks on the Dedication" that day. The actual 'Gettysburg Address' was delivered by the Rev. Edward Everitt, former Senator and Governor of Massachusetts, and indeed took over two hours. Everitt was the main speaker, Lincoln was invited almost as an afterthought and was asked to make just a brief comment, which he did. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-11-19 17:01 |
| #6 People forget - some, not all - that in 1863 the country was caught up in what might be described as Lincoln Derangement Syndrome. You can look it up. If memory serves, Mr. Lincoln wrotes these words essentially off the top of his head. On the back of an envelope. While on a train ride to Pennsylvania. Genius. Thankfully Mr. Lincoln was proved wrong when he wrote that the world would little note nor long remember what he said that day. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-11-19 15:39 |
| #5 Your son is right. Schools today are missing the boat on many things. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-11-19 15:03 |
| #4 Several years ago, we took our youngest son (14 at the time) to DC. Of course we went to the Lincoln Memorial. He stood there and read both Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and the Gettysburg Address (inscribed on the north and south walls of the Memorial). We asked if he had read these before. He replied that he had 'heard' of the Gettysburg Address in school, but had never read either of these speeches before. As we stood there quietly waiting for him to finish reading, he turned to us and said "We never learned this. We should have learned this. This guy had a real way with words. What he's saying makes sense." Then he said quietly "I guess I'm a little pissed we never learned this. This is kind of important." |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2007-11-19 13:01 |
| #3 Re #2: Lincoln got some mixed reactions to his speech because it was unusually short. His address, that lasted about 2 minutes, was following another speaker who'd spoken for 2 hours. I guess in those days before TV, radio, and other packaged entertainment, any speech, concert, or other live performance was expected to be much, much longer than this to keep the listeners--who'd spent many hours or even days to come by foot, train, and horseback from far and wide--entertained and satisfied. |
| Posted by: Dar 2007-11-19 10:28 |
| #2 Contrary to my daughter's belief, I did not live through the Civil War era. However, from what I read and understand, Lincoln was beset with very truculent opposition from within his party and outside his party. Somethings never change. Lincoln's speech was a great speech--unlike many of the Congressional windbags we have today that speak a lot and say nothing. I understand that Lincoln thought he "bombed" in writing and delivering the speech. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-11-19 10:00 |
| #1 Thanks, Mike! Best speech ever given. Do kids even read it today, let alone memorize it as they used to do? |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-11-19 09:37 |