After a long and inspiring train ride from Illinois to Washington DC, Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural address on the East Portico of the Capitol building on March 4, 1861. The country was in a state of turmoil as civil war looked to tear asunder all that the country stood for. It was the words and motivating sentiments of one man that assured many they could win the good fight and that the fight was necessary to save American democracy. It seemed never before had any American president faced such an important task: saving the country from itself. 
In his speech Lincoln tried to assure the public that he had no intention and indeed no legal grounds in his mind to interfere with the practice of slavery. He reminded anxious onlookers that the US Constitution condoned slavery in its current version and he and all others holding public office had sworn to uphold the Constitution. The institution of slavery was viewed as the stronghold of the southern economy and the faltering or failure of such an economy seen as devastation on the cultural life of the south. 
Lincoln clearly stated that there would be no civil war that the American government would not fight against its own people. But presidents are only capable of so much rhetoric and in April of 1861, the battle of Fort Sumter in South Carolina marked the beginning of America’s most challenging four years. 
With the recent historical presidential race, the country finds its focus once more on Illinois, the land of Lincoln.
“…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”-Abraham Lincoln
This focus is apt given the president elect’s transition website evokes Lincoln’s own words: “of the people by the people” when asking for suggestions of how to move the country past this, the most trying of times. On November 19, 1863, these words were uttered for the first time on a battlefield in Pennsylvania where the then president Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, now known as the Gettysburg Address.
The speech that day was meant as nothing more than a reminder of trying times past and trying times ahead and the importance of not only remembering lost soldiers but carrying forward the battle of democracy for everyone. Somehow Lincoln’s choice of phrase, perhaps coupled with the somber setting created memorable words that so many have used since to explain what is so uniquely American about American democracy.
“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.”
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln became president in 1860, just before the Civil War (1861-1865) engaged the entire nation in a battle ostensibly about slavery but ultimately about unity and what it meant to live up to American ideals. Lincoln was a republican who had served previously in the Illinois legislature and rallied the nation around the concept that even to speak of succession from the union was a criminal offense and that he would fight to defend the union of the United States.
Major General Ulysses S. Grant headed the union troops and General Robert E. Lee was in charge of the confederates and most fighting during the war took place in the southern states and in the lower eastern states. In total, approximately three million were involved in the fight and the term civil war is most appropriate due to the fact that in many households, it was brother against brother; torn apart because of their desire to secede and their desire to stay part of the union and bring an end to slavery. It was a long and bloody conflict.
Lincoln made many unpopular decisions during the four years of the war, mostly angering southern diehards who could not accept that in order for America to move forward, slavery had to end and everyone had to stand for the union. Lincoln blocked southern ports, hires and fires commanders, free slaves through the emancipation proclamation and enacted a draft forcing people to serve in the army.
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In April of 1865, just days after the south surrendered, Lincoln would be assassinated while he watched a performance of ‘Our American Cousin’ at the Ford Theater with his wife. Mrs. Lincoln’s loss was felt across the country as the Civil War gave way to the era of reconstruction and a time of uncomfortable change across the nation.
But it was that day in November at the dedication of a military cemetery that Lincoln’s long lasting legacy was solidified. Over 620,000 American soldiers died in the Civil War and the desire for their deaths not to be in vain was another part of that |
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| memorable speech. Strong words may have proved stronger than bullets as America has yet to face such a calamitous event since. But the words of the Gettysburg Address have influenced history, politics and American democracy for over a century. | ||||||||||||
Reminders abound daily about the importance of learning history and standing up for the American way of life. As November 19 approaches, it seems appropriate to remember the origin of a people’s government and how the sentiment behind it has not only inspired during times of war, but also during times of peace. After all, it is the people that create the change that good speeches can inspire.
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