Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s Historical Address is one of the speeches linked to the development of democracy. Abraham Lincoln who was the 16th president of the United States of America gave several tremendous speeches during his tenure as the president of the country before he was assassinated in 1865 two years after he gave the historical speech called the Gettysburg Address.

Gettysburg Address

One of the most Historical speeches in United States of America history is the Gettysburg Address. The Gettysburg Address is a speech given by American President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was delivered on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Union Armies defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.

 

The battle was part of the American civil war fought between 12 April 1861 – 9 April 1865. The battle involved the largest number of casualties during the entire American civil war and brought about a turning point during the civil war. The speech given by former president Lincoln at Gettysburg is can be seen as one of the historical addresses in American history because of its relation to Democracy.  when he said “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. The real speech given by Abraham Lincon can be seen below.

Transcript

“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 honoured 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.”

Debates About Abraham Gettysburg Address Speech

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham led to years of several debates most especially after being linked to Democracy. The Lincon source for the speech is the major reason why the quote in the speech is continuously been a debatable issue.

For instance, The famous quote in the speech is believed by some to have been the idea of Everett, Lincon’s Subordinate. However, Adam Gopnik disagrees with the view that the quote was related to Everett pointing to the fact that Abraham Lincon’s speech can be linked to biblical passages and rhetorical while Everett’s speech is Neoclassical.

Adam Gopnik’s idea of the Abraham Address at Gattsberg being related to the biblical was also supported by the analysis made by Allen C. Guelzo, and Glenn LaFantasie. The two linked the “four score and seven years” word in Abraham’s speech to  Psalms 90:10. Garry Wills’s Philip B. Kunhardt Jr. and William J. also agreed to the same view.

Also, the famous quote government of the people, by the people and for the people. a phrase commonly used by people around the world to define democracy was also debated. Some believed that Lincon got the quote idea from the speech of  Theodore Parker.  However Craig R. Smith, in “Criticism of Political Rhetoric and Disciplinary Integrity” disagrees stating that President Lincoln’s address was influenced by Senator Daniel Webster’s speech.

Facts About the Gettysburg Address.

• There are five manuscript copies of the Gettysburg Address
• The Five Manuscripts also have names, the name John Hay copy, John Nicolay copy, Bancroft copy, Bliss copy and Everett copy. The manuscript was named after the people who received the manuscript from President Lincoln.
•  The Five copies were written at different points in time. the John Hay and John Nicolay copies were written before the Bancroft copy, the Bliss copy and Everett copy. the latter copies of Bancroft, Bliss and Everett copies were written after November 19th 1963 (when the Gettysburg address took place)
• The Bliss copy of the Gettysburg Address is acknowledged as the standard copy for the Gettysburg Address and this is because it was signed and given a title by Abraham lincoln.
• John Hay’s copy and John Nicolay’s copy of the Address can be found in the Library of Congress where it is been fully protected against deterioration.
• John Nicolay’s copy is believed to be the first drafted copy and was in the possession of John Nicolay himself until he died in 1901. However, after Nicolay’s death in 1901, his daughter Helen Nicolay gave the Nicolay copy to John Hay.
• The existence of Hay copy was discovered in 1906. the Hay copy Abraham had given to Hay before the Gettsby address was called  “the most inexplicable” of the drafts and is sometimes referred to as the “second draft. the Hay copy along with the Nicolay copy was donated to the library of congress in 1916 by the Nicolay family.

Also

• Everett’s Copy which was written for charitable purposes along with Bancroft and Bliss copies by Lincoln is perceived to be the third draft of the speech. the copy is now been  displayed at the treasures Gallery of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum after being in the possession of the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield, Illinois
• The Bancroft copy is the only copy of the Gettysburg Address to be privately owned. However, it was later donated to Cornell University in 1949 by Nicholas and Marguerite Lilly Noyes who had brought it years after being sold by the Bancroft family. The Bancroft manuscript is believed to have been written in February 1864.
• The Bliss copy is the only copy that has the signature of Abraham Lincoln. The copy is however been displayed in the Lincoln Room of the White House
•  David Bachrach was the photographer who captured Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address while William R. Rathvon is the only known eyewitness of both Lincoln’s arrival at Gettysburg and the address itself to have left an audio recording of his recollections.