He was trying to tell the people gathered that the war was being fought for a just cause, not just to end slavery, but to keep the country together. That is why he said at the beginning "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." That part is about slavery. At the end he says, "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." This part was about keeping the country together.
In another sense, he wanted to convey to people that the battle fought at Gettysburg was not the end, but the beginning of the end of the war. "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task beofre us---" He also wanted the audience to know that those who fought there did not die in vain. "---that those 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."
If broken down by each sentence, it does become clear what he was trying to say. What he gained was the moral support he needed from a weary nation tired of war. After all, the nation had been at war for over 2 years and people were tired. This lifted up the spirits of the Union, of course not the Confederacy.
2006-12-12 18:46:50
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answer #1
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answered by kepjr100 7
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world-famous speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication (Nov. 19, 1863) of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., the site of one of the decisive battles of the American Civil War (July 1–3, 1863).
The main address at the dedication ceremony was one of two hours, delivered by Edward Everett, the best-known orator of the time. In the wake of such a performance, Lincoln's brief speech would hardly seem to have drawn notice. However, despite some criticism from his opposition, it was widely quoted and praised and soon came to be recognized as one of the classic utterances of all time, a masterpiece of prose poetry. On the day following the ceremony. Everett himself wrote to Lincoln, “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”
The text quoted in full below represents the fifth of five extant copies of the address in Lincoln's handwriting; it differs slightly from earlier versions and may reflect, in addition to afterthought, interpolations made during the delivery.
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 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.
2006-12-13 02:27:26
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answer #2
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answered by Britannica Knowledge 3
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i don't understand approximately any of that. i think of it summed up the come to a determination and challenge of the 2d for the federalists. It replaced right into a solid speech and in all possibility between the ideal. it somewhat is thrilling to notice that my dad and mom had to memorize it for college, I gained a replica to study, yet my babies have even a looser understanding of the speech. i think of distinctive admiration for Abraham Lincoln is extremely lost, questioning that he replaced into the be-worried with African American freedom. He replaced into only attempting to place the republic lower back mutually lower back. We would not be the place we are with out him, yet to a pair volume the civil conflict replaced into his fault.
2016-12-30 08:23:37
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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