150 years ago today President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the best-known speeches in American history at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
鈥淔our score and seven years ago鈥︹�� began the short speech that would define an embattled president, a nation struggling with slavery and a war that was close to tearing it apart, according to Ralph Mann, CU-Boulder history professor.
鈥淗e is taking the opportunity to define the war, to define what the United States is and to define his political philosophy and what he hopes, I think, to achieve in the future,鈥� said Mann.
Many historians have identified the Battle of Gettysburg as the turning point in the American Civil War. The Union victory forever sent Southern forces back into Virginia, never to threaten the North again. Mann says, Lincoln understood the importance of that victory and tied the sacrifice made by the soldiers at Gettysburg to the sacrifice Americans would have to make to preserve the union.
鈥淭he thing that shows up in this speech again and again is the word dedication," Mann said. "We are going to dedicate a cemetery but we can鈥檛 because they dedicated it, consecrated it, the soldiers themselves. But the country is dedicated to this proposition - we must dedicate ourselves to complete this great work that they have advanced and this dedication is to saving the republican form of government.鈥�
Lincoln also reiterated the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and that the war was not only a struggle to preserve the union but also to a new birth of freedom that would bring equality to all Americans.
听鈥淭he starting point is Jefferson鈥檚 famous, 鈥榃e hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, endowed with their creator with certain inalienable rights and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.鈥� When Lincoln used that, the pursuit of happiness to him meant civil rights for white and black," Mann said. "And Lincoln had said several times before he was the president and during his presidency, 鈥� You can鈥檛 ultimately save the nation without destroying slavery.鈥� 鈥�
He said Lincoln also saw the American Civil War as a struggle to save democratic ideals and hope, not just for the United States, but for all republican forms of government.
鈥淎 new nation dedicated to this proposition that all men are created equal and the war is a test as to whether that nation, or any nation based on those values - a republic where the people have a voice, and the people鈥檚 interests come first - can survive," Mann said. "He thought the American Republic was the only legitimate one at that time and if that republic is destroyed the whole idea of a republican government will be destroyed. America is the world鈥檚 last great hope and so the future of this kind of government is at stake.鈥�
Despite the historical and cultural importance of the speech, the exact wording and location of the speech are disputed. According to , there are five known copies of the speech in Lincoln's handwriting, each with a slightly different text and named for the people who first received them. Two copies apparently were written before delivering the speech; the remaining ones were produced months later for soldier benefit events.