The Gettysburg Address: The Power of Language
Context: As President, Abraham Lincoln had been invited to speak at the dedication of the new cemetery at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, which would be the final resting place for soldiers who had died in the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.
When his turn came, Lincoln rose and in a mere 272 words revealed with poetic brevity the importance of the
proposition “all men are created equal” to America’s past, present and future. Generations of Americans and people
around the world have since found inspiration in this eloquent, noble and universal appeal to and defense of the cause
of liberty.
Directions: Today, we are going to close read the Gettysburg Address. First, you will read through the speech, taking
notes of the words and phrases Lincoln uses throughout, while Lincoln delivers the 272 word speech. We will then work
through the speech as a class, identifying key propositions and claims made throughout, reading for context and
purpose. As we read, you should start to think about the theme of the speech.
The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)
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.
Questions for Consideration:
1. What words do you notice being repeated throughout the speech? Why do you suppose Lincoln chose these
words?
2. Lincoln never mentions slavery in his Gettysburg Address. Why not? How is it implied in his dedicatory remarks?
3. Why does Lincoln call the idea that “all men are created equal” a “proposition,” rather than a self-evident truth
as in the Declaration of Independence?
4. What will be proven by the outcome of the Civil War? What is the great task still remaining before Americans?
Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)
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.

Why does Lincoln begin his eulogy to the soldiers buried at Gettysburg with a reference to "Four score and seven
years ago"?
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can
long endure.

What does Lincoln mean by calling the Civil War a test of the ability of the nation to "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.

What does Lincoln say is the best way for the living to honor the dead at Gettysburg?
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.


What is "the unfinished work" or "great task remaining before" his audience, the American people?
What is "the new birth of freedom" Lincoln calls for, and how does it differ from the nation's original birth?