The Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863
When Lincoln was invited to make his speech, Americans were still trying to recover from the shock of 51,000 casualties incurred at the battle of Gettysburg a few months earlier. A battlefield cemetery for the Northern dead was being dedicated, and organizers wanted a prominent keynote speaker. Rather than choosing the President for the keynote address, they selected Edward Everett, who was a famous orator of the day. The President was apparently asked to speak as a last minute courtesy. He chose to accept the invitation anyway because he felt the need to make a public statement on the meaning of the war. The day he was scheduled to board a train for Gettysburg, Lincoln almost cancelled his appearance. His young son Tad had become seriously ill, and Lincoln's wife Mary - who had lost another son to illness a year before - became hysterical about Lincoln leaving. He finally decided to go anyway, and was later relieved to learn that his son's condition had improved. Lincoln did not scribble the speech on the back of an envelope as later mythologized, but had instead written it a week or two earlier on White House stationery, and then polished it at Gettysburg the night before the event. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 19, 1863, 15,000 people listened as Edward Everett delivered a rousing two-hour patriotic speech. In contrast, when Lincoln arose, attired in a new black suit, he delivered a surprisingly brief speech. It consisted of 272 words and required no more than two minutes to deliver. He was interrupted by applause only twice, but his audience knew when he finished that they had witnessed an epic event.
Lincoln's speech soon appeared in countless newspapers, earning an acclaim that has only increased with the passage of time. Through his Gettysburg Address, he eloquently inspired the North and shaped history - redefining the Northern war effort from preservation of the Union to a crusade for freedom. His elegant phrases would ring through the ages: He spoke of the American heritage - a nation "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He honored the "brave men, living and dead, who struggled" for the Northern cause. He saluted their "unfinished work," and proclaimed "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." His stirring words not only motivated Northerners, they established a vision of mutual respect and tolerance for a reunited America. For generations to come, all Civil War soldiers - Northern and Southern alike - would be honored by the citizens of a restored American republic as "brave men" and "honored dead" - Americans all. 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 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 this 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. Mort Kunstler’s Comments: With my painting emphasis and love of the Civil War, it's only fitting that I should start my Presidential Collection with Abraham Lincoln. While I have completed nearly twenty paintings depicting our 16th President, The Gettysburg Address seemed like a fitting tribute to celebrate his 200th birthday. While controversial in his lifetime, history has shown Lincoln to be one of the most outstanding Presidents in leading and shaping the future of our great nation.
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| Price | Material | Size | Issue # | Type | Cart | Wish List |
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595.00 |
Giclee Canvas |
26" x 26" |
200 |
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745.00 |
Giclee Canvas |
26" x 26" |
20 |
AP |
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