The Gettysburg Address

December 18, 2003 10:55 AM

In the War Between The States,no finer words were ever spoken than those by Abraham Lincoln on 19 November 1863 at the consecration of a cemetery in rural Pennsylvania for the over 50,000 who died in the three worst days of battle in a wretched civil war. The speech is often included in US history books and collections of influential American speeches as one of the strongest examples of presidential oratory ever given. Is it any wonder, then, that it should inspire modern art?
posted by Ogre Lawless (6 comments total)

Funny thing was, he wasn't even the featured speaker. He was asked to deliver a few appropriate remarks after the orator of the day, Edward Everett, waxed lyrical with a lengthy speech. Wikipedia entry
posted by alumshubby at 3:15 PM on December 18, 2003

Hmm, sounds oddly familiar . . . .
posted by caseymcg at 3:54 PM on December 18, 2003

Why yes, it does.
posted by yhbc at 5:56 PM on December 18, 2003

Not to be pedantic, but there were not "over 50,000 who died." The military uses "casualty" very broadly, which is why the National Park Service says that "Over 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured."

The single bloodiest day in American history remains the battle of Antietam, with 3,650 killed.
posted by pmurray63 at 6:08 AM on December 19, 2003

And Lincoln's second inaugural address is better than his Gettysburg address.
posted by Mo Nickels at 8:08 AM on December 20, 2003

Metafilter: Its been done before.

Clearly I shoulda just left it at the powerpoint app and let that get roasted on its own merits.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:28 AM on December 23, 2003