Gettysburg Address

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

In 1863, two years into the US Civil War, the very ideals on which the nation was based were in peril. If the South had won and broken away from the Union, the compact between the states—to hold together and protect each other, their ideals of freedom and equality, and their national government—would have been broken, perhaps never to be restored. Lincoln highlights these existential stakes early in his speech while also laying the groundwork for his eventual call for a national rebirth; there is a play on the word “conceived,” which can refer either to devising an idea or to the literal event of conception.

“We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”

At the time of Lincoln's speech, it was already clear to the combatants that the Battle of Gettysburg had turned the tide in favor of the North. For Lincoln, however, the battlefield is “great” not only for its momentous consequences but for the terrible losses suffered by both sides: over 50,000 killed or wounded, to this day the most devastating battle in American history. Lincoln acknowledges the importance of the battle and, by extension, the importance of dedicating a cemetery for the Union soldiers who fell defending American ideals.

“We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.” 

Lincoln describes the costly victory at Gettysburg as advancing the cause of freedom not only for America and its continued existence but also for Southern slaves, for whom Gettysburg offered new hope that they might soon be liberated. The nation that “might live” is a unified America that has recommitted itself to the nation’s founding values. This had been President Lincoln’s fervent wish since he attained office; his speech was meant to reinforce that great effort.

“It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”

Gettysburg’s dead soldiers were at first hurriedly buried in shallow graves and then resettled in this new, more dignified resting place. Here, Lincoln explains that their sacrifice, so critical to the survival of America, deserves nothing less than a full and grateful salute from those who live on.

“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.”

According to Lincoln, those who benefit from the battle’s outcome can do little to add to the courageous acts of the men who already have sacrificed everything to achieve victory. The repetition of “we cannot” not only underscores this reality but also hints at the “larger sense” Lincoln has in mind; the progression from the civil “dedication” of a cemetery to the overtly religious “hallowing” of the battlefield frames the war as a spiritual struggle.

“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

Death in battle is the ultimate sacrifice, one which Lincoln suggests imbues a battlefield with a silent benediction that remains forever. Those who later visit cannot truly know or understand the nature of that sacrifice—it’s too big for any living person to comprehend—but the assembled audience can acknowledge and dignify that sacrifice with ceremonies and dedications. Lincoln reminds his listeners that they have little choice but to be humble before the immense achievement of those who lie buried nearby.

“The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” 

Words and speeches, Lincoln implies, are transient, but the courageous acts of soldiers willing to give their lives for their nation remain forever in the minds of those who follow. Historically, there is a certain irony to this; Lincoln didn’t know it at the time, but his speech would attach itself to the dead heroes of Gettysburg and attain immortality alongside those soldiers.

“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.”

Lincoln concludes that the best Americans can do to thank the Gettysburg dead is to renew their commitment to the war waged to protect the ideals for which those soldiers died. The war is yet to be won; much work lies ahead. In making this claim, Lincoln flips the audience’s understanding of the dedication ceremony on its head, arguing that they are at Gettysburg not to dedicate it but to “be dedicated” by it.