On this day, November 19, 1863, seven score and nineteen years ago ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

You guessed it, didn't you?

Tue Nov 19, 2019: On this date, November 19, 1865, seven score and sixteen years ago....

The way things are going around here, I half expect someone to report this as a Republican talking point.

Hat tip, {redacted}

Gettysburg Address



One of only two confirmed photos of Lincoln (center, facing camera) at Gettysburg taken about noon on November 19, 1863; Lincoln spoke some three hours later. To Lincoln's right is Ward Hill Lamon, his bodyguard.

The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is one of the best-known speeches in American history.

{snip}



Union soldiers dead at Gettysburg, photographed by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, July 5–6, 1863

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Text

Shortly after Everett's well-received remarks, Lincoln spoke for only a few minutes. With a "few appropriate remarks", he was able to summarize his view of the war in just ten sentences.

Despite the historical significance of Lincoln's speech, modern scholars disagree as to its exact wording, and contemporary transcriptions published in newspaper accounts of the event and even handwritten copies by Lincoln himself differ in their wording, punctuation, and structure. Of these versions, the Bliss version, written well after the speech as a favor for a friend, is viewed by many as the standard text. Its text differs, however, from the written versions prepared by Lincoln before and after his speech. It is the only version to which Lincoln affixed his signature, and the last he is known to have written.

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.

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.

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—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.
—Abraham Lincoln

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[cyclonefence]

1. One big sign that I'm an old fart is

that I'm pissed off that schoolchildren are no longer required to memorize and recite this speech, as my fifth grade class was. My generation--at least where I'm from--were taught in school to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Washington's farewell, and so many poems it would crack my skull to even remember what they were.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "After Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address, tomorrow 1863, some jackass ..."

After Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address, tomorrow 1863, some jackass at the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot, a Democratic paper, called the President's words “silly” and said they deserved the “veil of oblivion."

Link to tweet

[FakeNoose]

3. If you've never visited Gettysburg, I suggest it's a worthwhile trip

Especially with children or grandchildren that are perhaps preteens or older. Maybe not so interesting for the younger ones. I've been to Gettysburg twice - first as a teenager with my parents and sibs. Second visit was in my 40s with friends. Both times were memorable and educational for different reasons.

However the most amazing learning experience I've ever had concerning the Civil War came from reading "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. Highly recommended, and if you enjoy listening to audiobooks, the audio version is amazing. Your local library probably has it.