2 Minutes

Friday is the anniversary of a great man's birth. On February 12th, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born. He was such a great man: Handsome, strong, caring, gentle. He was also a political giant. This human man also had some flaws of his own character (of which he was not proud), but overall, Lincoln was the best leader America has ever seen.

With his birthday coming up, it has me thinking about all he has done for this country: Freeing the slaves, beginning the Transcontinental Railroad, leading our country throughout the Civil War. He also had many plans for after the war to bind the nation's wounds, but he didn't get a chance to do that since he was killed.

My favorite "Lincoln deed" wasn't even something as big as the War, but was a lot more personal that still means a lot to us today. It has a lot to do with my hometown, and a little dedication....

 The date is November 19th, 1863.

Abraham Lincoln stood waiting his turn. Though invited kind of last minute, he readily had agreed to come speak at the Gettysburg National Cemetery dedication. Now he was here, waiting for the main speaker, Edward Everett, to finish.

And waiting.

And...waiting.

Finally! After a mere 2 hour speech, Everett finishes. 

Now it was Lincoln's turn. He then stands, and begins.

2 minutes: A mere 272-word speech. That's all.

 You might think that a speech given in so little time would be quickly forgotten. However, those two minutes changed the mindset of America.

"Four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal..."

Whoa. Wait a minute. Pause the speech! I’m confused already. What is he saying? All I see is “Big word, big word...equal.”

 “Four score and seven”. I know, I know, you aren’t reading this history blog to do math, so I’ll do it for you: A “score” is 20 years, so Lincoln was talking about 87 years. It was 87 years before when, in 1776, the ‘forefathers’ signed the Declaration of Independence.

"...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..."

Now Lincoln discusses our nation, united under God. The Civil War was America's biggest test-- whether or not it could survive itself. 

"...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..."

Now is the climax of his speech (for you grammar people), when Lincoln gets to the point of the matter. There was no need for any dedication ceremony. The ‘dedication’ was already done. The men who died already gave everything they had, even their very lives, and that was dedication enough.

So can you now see how Lincoln changed America in 2 minutes? Can you see how moving those 272 words were, and how we can picture ourselves right there? He put a simple thought into our minds showing just what these 50,000 men did--some of whom are buried in the Gettysburg cemetery. They fought for a cause, died for a cause, and are remembered. Lincoln's speech was perfect for the task he undertook: to bring America back to the reason the men died. It's easy to get wrapped up in the bloodshed, but you have to remember why they died. The Gettysburg Address helps us to remember the cause these men died for.

Lincoln had a lot of "great" achievements throughout his life, but I think they are all outranked by this speech. 

 Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/gettysburg-address

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm 

Wheeler, Joe. Abraham Lincoln: A Man of Faith and Courage. Howard Books: New York, 2008. Print.