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Abraham
Lincoln was the most skillful writer of his age. But
he wasn't the most skillful speaker. Believe
it or not, Abraham Lincoln had the same fears most of
us have about speaking in public.
As
a lawyer, he memorized his court arguments ahead of time,
and he practiced out loud, so loud that once his wife threw
him out of the house. Even
though he became famous debating with Stephen Douglas,
for Lincoln, debating was different than direct public
speaking. He
did it, but he didn't like it.
After
he was elected President, he was often called on to speak. Unless
he had prepared and practiced in advance, he usually declined. The
night of the surrender at Appomattox he appeared at the
White House window to cheering throngs and military bands. He
was asked to make a speech. But
he hadn't prepared a statement in advance and feared the "right" words
would fail him on such an important occasion. He
avoided a speech by asking the band to play Dixie instead.
So,
how could someone like this give the Gettysburg Address? Today
it stands as the best and most perfectly structured speech
ever given. But that wasn't what Lincoln thought in 1863. In
fact, everything was against Lincoln giving even an average
speech that November day.
One
thing against him was the grim subject. He
was there to dedicate a cemetery. It
was four months after the battle, and not all the bodies
had been properly buried yet. The
smell of death still hung in the air. To say nothing of the smells of 15,000 people who came out
for the daylong dedication.
Another
thing against him giving a successful speech was that he
was the last speaker of the afternoon. The
speaker before him talked for two full hours. The
crowd was growing impatient and tired.
And
the last count against him, Lincoln had a high-pitched
voice with a Mid-western twang that people in the East
just hated to hear.
That's
the scene the day Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. You
have this tall, gangly, squeaky-voiced man wearing a wrinkled
black suit. His pants were always too short, hanging high above his ankles. The
people have been there for hours and hours, and they are
undoubtedly bored, tired, and cranky. Of
the thousands who came, only a few hundred would even be
able to see him. Less
than that would be able to hear him.
But
the success of the Gettysburg Address didn't depend on
a smooth delivery, or perfect surroundings, or an admiring
audience. It
really didn't matter HOW he gave the Address. It
was WHAT he said. The
words he used captured the sentiments of the people. That's
what made the Gettysburg Address a historic event.
He
started out with what most Americans have memorized:
"Four
score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon
this continent a new nation."
His
audience understood what he meant by this. Our
country was young enough in 1863 that most adults heard
the stories or even had met people who fought in the Revolution. Lincoln
is reminding them of these past heroes and comparing them
with those they came to Gettysburg to honor.
He
continues:
"Now
we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can
long endure."
The
outcome of the Civil War may make the survival of the first
and only democracy on earth doubtful.
He
ends with this hope:
"these
dead shall not have died in vain; the nation shall . have
a new birth of freedom; and . government of the people,
by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth."
Lincoln
wanted the American people to understand it was their shared
responsibility to preserve the Union and to protect and
preserve our democratic government to serve as an example
of freedom for the rest of the world.
Lincoln's
voice was squeaky and weak, and his audience was bored
and tired. But
it didn't matter how he delivered his speech. What
mattered were the WORDS he chose and WHAT he said.
In
all Lincoln's writings, he chose his words very carefully. For
the Gettysburg Address, he wanted his words to make our
nation whole again. That's why, in spite of his prediction, the world still notes
what Lincoln said there, and the world still remembers
what Lincoln did there at Gettysburg.
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