Gettysburg replies : the world responds to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address
(Book)

Almost five months after the Civil War's deadliest clash, President Abraham Lincoln and other Union leaders gathered to dedicate the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The program for the occasion featured music, prayer, orations, and benedictions. In the middle of it all, the president gave a few commemorative remarks, speaking for just two minutes. - Challenged to make the enormity of the battle- which had turned the tide of the war, though neither side realized it yet- Lincoln used 272 words in ten sentences to rededicate the Union to the preservation of freedom. His address remains the most important statement of our nation's commitment to personal liberty since the Revolutionary War and has become one of the most important speeches in American History, a cornerstone of who we are as a country. A century and a half later, we still hold Lincoln's message in our hearts.