What was Lincoln trying to say when he wrote the Gettysburg Address?
The occasion of Lincoln’s speech was to dedicate a memorial cemetary for those who gave their lives defending the Union. In that speech, he questioned whether our new nation, based upon the principles of liberty and equal justice would be able to endure. Would the Great American Experiment, and the lofty ideals it stood for, last for long? Lincoln encouraged the nation to continue to fight for what the fallen soldiers fought for, and gave their all. So that this government for the people “shall not perish from the earth.” Speech Exceprts: “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… “…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
