American Civilization |  The American Civil War (1861 - 1865)
Analysis of Important Documents, Speeches and Texts

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Part One | Gettysburg Address (1863) - Analysis

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The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863
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 nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field 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 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. 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.

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Introduction and Analysis

The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln (1860-1864) was an abolitionist and his election was regarded [seen = considered] as a declaration of war by the Slave States. This led to the creation of The Confederacy, and later to the secession from the North by the Slave States. Two years after the outbreak of the Civil War, the bloody Gettysburg battle in which The Union defeated The Confederation was clearly a turning point. Indeed, it put to an end the second most important invasion of the North by the South.

Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech Gettysburg Address four months later for the dedication of a cemetery built on a portion of the battle field. The President addresses the nation as whole praising those soldiers who scarified themselves for their country which mirrors a certain extent of patriotism.
Indeed, while evoking the Declaration of Independence of 1776 of which liberty and equality are the cornerstones [keystones], Abraham Lincoln pays tribute to the soldiers who scarified themselves for the Nation, and then appeals for the people to defend their nation and to decide on the future of American seeing the war as a test.

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Some General Ideas

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Part One | The principles of The Declaration of Independence seem to be a failure.

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people (...)” --> echoes The Constitution (1787)

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” [Preamble of The Constitution]

• America is a new nation, conceived in liberty and equability. --> echoes The Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Heritage from the past and given by their ancestors. “under God” --> God is given a central role in the nation. Indeed, it stems from the religious beliefs of the Pilgrim Fathers who saw themselves as people chosen by God.
  
• “All Men are created Equal” (line 2) --> reference to slavery which is a blatant contradiction with the basis of America.
  

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Part TWO | Soldiers are being honored but “their work is not finished” (lines 10 and 11 )

• devotion”, “hallow”, “consecrate” --> Religious dimension again.
  
• “Those who gave their lives that that nation might live” (lines 5 and 6)-->  idea of sacrifice which mirrors patriotism.
  
• Lexical field of bravery “the brave men”, “so nobly advance”, “honoured dead”. The dead soldiers made this land “holy” and people will remember their courage and bravery.
  

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Part THREE | Appeal to the people to defend their nation and to decide on their future.

• The revival of America: “New birth of Freedom” (lines 14 and 14)The Civil War is a test: A. Lincoln describes the war as the great "testing" whether a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" would survive or "perish from the earth."
  
• “The Great task before us” (line 12) --> The “unfinished work” to which Lincoln refers, “the great task remaining before us,” is to put into practice the proposition to which this nation was and is dedicated: "that all men are created equal".
  

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Continuer avec la partie 2

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You may also like:

• The American Civil War Part One | "Gettysburg Address" [Text & Analysis]
  
• The American Civil War Part Two | "The Emancipation Proclamation" [Text, Analysis and Oral Comprehension]
• The American Civil War Part Three | The Abolition of Slavery and The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
• Oral Comprehension | A. Lincoln [Short Biography]
• Oral Comprehension | "The Emancipation Proclamation"
• Focus | The Confederate Flags
• Focus | Télécharger la fiche cours ​[ The History and Evolution of the Confederate Flag ]
• Focus | Lincoln's Assassination
• Download | Télécharger l'ensemble du chapitre sur la Guerre de Sécession Américaine.
  

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