lincoln at gettysburg the words that remade america

What significance does the Gettysburg Address have for us in the U.S. That is why Wills avers that Lincoln’s short speech “remade America.” His main desire was to preserve the Union – forming a true union of all the people of all 33 states that existed at that time, including the 11 that seceded in 1861.Īccording to Wills, until the Civil war “the United States” was invariably a plural noun, as in “the United States are a free government.” After Gettysburg, it became singular, as in “the United States is a free government.”īecause of Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg, people in this country came to understand both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in a new way.

President Lincoln’s speech, which was fewer than 280 words long (less than half the length of this article), has been called “the words that remade America” in the subtitle to Garry Wills’ book, “Lincoln at Gettysburg.”Īs has often been pointed out, Lincoln’s main motive in the Civil War was not the freeing of the slaves, although he later embraced that purpose also. So that was the reason for making the National Cemetery and dedicating it on that Nov. Because of the stinking decay of those bodies, most were just covered over with a thin cover of dirt – many to partly resurface later. What a horrible time in the history of this country.Īt the end of the battle, 8,000 human bodies were strewn across the ground around Gettysburg, a town of only 2,500 inhabitants. More than 27,000 combatants were wounded, with more than half being Union soldiers, commanded by Gen. There were nearly 8,000 battle deaths during those three days of fighting in southern Pennsylvania, about 60 percent of those being Confederate soldiers led by Gen. That remarkable speech was given at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Penn., several months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the bloody Battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863. That was the date of the Gettysburg Address, the speech delivered by President Lincoln during the Civil War.

Lincoln at gettysburg the words that remade america