What makes the gettysburg address so great

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 can not dedicate—we can not 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.

This claims that the struggle was beyond the power of politics — that it had to be fought over. 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.

Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who also adopted Lincolnian brevity, said the Gettysburg battle stands at the vortex of American history and the Gettysburg Address at the vortex of national consciousness.

Share story. Slavery ended. Lincoln foresaw this. Civil War Video. Why do Lincoln's iconic words at Gettysburg still matter to each and every one of us? Prager University. Ours is no exception. Topic s :. Related Videos. View All Related Resources. Call to Arms. Campaign Details. The nation had to endure the inevitable traumas of growing up, as any democracy would.

I think it is common to understand it as saying the aim of the war is not just restoration of the Union but emancipation of the slaves. Lincoln says equality but means racial equality. Lincoln has a very deep idea of equality that transcends emancipation. One of the big lessons of equality is that its meaning continues to unfold.