Gettysburg Address Essay

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Primary Source Analysis 1 By Ethan Wagler 2-8-12 Ethan Wagler 2-7-11 Primary Source Analysis 1 Gettysburg Address For my first primary source analysis we will be analyzing the Gettysburg Address. First off the article was written by our sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln. This speech was given on Thursday November 19th, 1863. This date was during the Civil war after one of the bloodiest battles in American history at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The speech was approximately two minutes long, and is known as one of the greatest speeches in American History. In those two minutes Lincoln demonstrated the principles of human equality that our nation has, and explained a new form of freedom for all Americans in the U.S. Lincoln presented a form of democracy and the birth of newly unified nation. At the beginning of the Gettysburg Address Lincoln states how four score and seven years ago (1776) our continent brought forth a new nation. In this first powerful sentence Lincoln addresses the Revolutionary War and what that victory brought to our nation. The Civil War nearly ripped apart our nation and many lives were lost in the process. Lincoln states that Gettysburg will be a final resting place for all the soldiers who have died on this ground. He says that we cannot dedicate nor consecrate the ground because the soldiers who lie there hold a power far beyond what we can add or detract. This sentence really shows the importance of this battle and how these men should be honored and buried here as a final resting place. Lincoln then shortly after says that we still have a great task ahead of us even though the Civil War is now over. What he was trying to say is that we must make sure these soldiers didn’t die for nothing, and that our country stay strong
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