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155 Years Ago On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In just 272 words, scribbled on the back of an envelope, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course of three days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of the war: General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army’s ultimate decline. Ordered by Pennsylvania’s governor, Andrew Curtin, to care for the Gettysburg dead, an attorney named David Wills bought acres of pasture to turn into a cemetery for the more than 7,500 who fell in battle. Wills invited Edward Everett, one of the most famous orators of the day, to deliver a speech at the cemetery’s dedication. Almost as an afterthought, Wills also sent a letter to Lincoln—just two weeks before the ceremony—requesting “a few appropriate remarks” to consecrate the grounds. At the dedication, the crowd listened for two hours to Everett before Lincoln spoke. Lincoln’s lasted just two or three minutes. The speech reflected his redefined belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all, an idea Lincoln had not championed in the years leading up to the war. This was his stirring conclusion: “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.” Reception of Lincoln’s Gettysburg was initially mixed, divided strictly along partisan lines. Nevertheless, the “little speech,” as he later called it, is thought by many today to be the most eloquent articulation of the American vision ever written. |
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18/11/2018 6:47 pm |
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.
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18/11/2018 6:47 pm |
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.
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18/11/2018 6:48 pm |
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—
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18/11/2018 6:48 pm |
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.
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I bow in humble memory.
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18/11/2018 9:31 pm |
I didn't know there were actual pictures taken that day.
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18/11/2018 9:33 pm |
I bow in humble memory.
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19/11/2018 7:15 am |
Excellent. All public speakers, at least politicians should follow the "less is more" in speeches. Get to the point. Especially in this short attention span world of ours. Now, what was I doing again..................
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19/11/2018 8:18 am |
Excellent. All public speakers, at least politicians should follow the "less is more" in speeches. Get to the point. Especially in this short attention span world of ours. Now, what was I doing again..................
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A few things gave the Union the advantage over the south. The Union navy blockaded some southern seaports blocking money, supplies and arms from the Confederacy. The south chose to spend their money on muzzle loading muskets which an experienced soldier might be able to load and fire 3 times in a minute but the average was 2 times a minute, while the north was investing in more rapid fire firearms such as; the Henry repeating rifle which carried 16 rounds, 15 in the tubular magazine and 1 in the chamber. It was nicknamed by the Confederate soldiers 'that Yankee rifle that they could load on Sunday and shoot all week long'. Many Union soldiers bought these themselves as their personal rifle. The Union also had my favorite of the Civil War, the Spencer rifle and carbine. These were a large bore .52 caliber. They were a 7 round lever action repeating rifle and were almost as powerful in knockdown, accuracy and range as the legendary Sharps rifle, aka buffalo gun. The Union still used some muskets because the felt they saved on ammunition but they also started buying breech loading with a cartridge single shot carbines such as the Burnside, Gallagher and Smith. The only Confederate soldiers that carried those were ones that they picked from the battlefield. The north also had a field piece (cannon) that was like a giant shotgun that spread round projectiles over an area of ground. These were canister loaded with the projectiles inside the canister instead of a cannon ball. The north also had the Gatling Gun but they saw limited use.
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bret u missed your calling. you should have been a history teacher pull your hair out lol
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19/11/2018 6:10 pm |
A few things gave the Union the advantage over the south. The Union navy blockaded some southern seaports blocking money, supplies and arms from the Confederacy. The south chose to spend their money on muzzle loading muskets which an experienced soldier might be able to load and fire 3 times in a minute but the average was 2 times a minute, while the north was investing in more rapid fire firearms such as; the Henry repeating rifle which carried 16 rounds, 15 in the tubular magazine and 1 in the chamber. It was nicknamed by the Confederate soldiers 'that Yankee rifle that they could load on Sunday and shoot all week long'. Many Union soldiers bought these themselves as their personal rifle. The Union also had my favorite of the Civil War, the Spencer rifle and carbine. These were a large bore .52 caliber. They were a 7 round lever action repeating rifle and were almost as powerful in knockdown, accuracy and range as the legendary Sharps rifle, aka buffalo gun. The Union still used some muskets because the felt they saved on ammunition but they also started buying breech loading with a cartridge single shot carbines such as the Burnside, Gallagher and Smith. The only Confederate soldiers that carried those were ones that they picked from the battlefield. The north also had a field piece (cannon) that was like a giant shotgun that spread round projectiles over an area of ground. These were canister loaded with the projectiles inside the canister instead of a cannon ball. The north also had the Gatling Gun but they saw limited use.
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19/11/2018 6:13 pm |
bret u missed your calling. you should have been a history teacher pull your hair out lol
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20/11/2018 5:45 pm |
I try to hold my values as best I can and fight those Globalists and Socialists who would undermine our great nation and destroy the American dream. This wave of socialism coming from losers who are too lazy to work and think mommy will let them live in the basement forever playing video games has to be dealt with.
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