The Gettysburg Address

Created by: Camila Rodriguez, Lauren

Hudson, Mattie Beauford

Historical Background

Abraham Lincoln was the one who wrote the Gettysburg address.The reason the civil war began was because the Americans were settling . The North and South had different economies and they both had problems with slavery but in the south there were more African-Americans,later on in history the people were tired of it, that’s when slavery was established as a law. Abraham Lincoln wanted the nation to be whole again.The Gettysburg Address was delivered on November 19, 1863.

Abraham Lincoln wanted the nation to become one.The reason the document was written was because of the battle of Gettysburg. The battle of Gettysburg was about the civil rights but Abraham Lincoln was mostly talking about slavery, there were still racist back then but Abraham Lincoln was not one of them.Abraham Lincoln made the document and contributed to it by saying that all people were created equal. He also thought that everyone in society was entitled to their own rights not just because of their race but their citizenship. (Something Martin Luther King said 100 years later in his “I have a dream speech”.)

Interpretation• In this document a brief introduction is placed, it includes

the date that the Gettysburg Address happened and it also includes what it’s talking about. In the document that is written there is no middle or conclusion it just states the speech “The Gettysburg Address”.

• The main point of this document is about when the civil war was going on, so Abraham Lincoln made a speech because some people were not happy about the fact that the president was sending soldiers out on the field to fight about integration in the U.S.A. Some people thought that it was not the Caucasians war so why are we fighting for another race, at that moment there were slaves and they were below the Caucasians standards. The author is trying to convey that back then there was no equality between race and now that has changed to the point where there is now a black president in the 21st century.

• Abraham Lincoln fought for another race because he believed that a person was a person and he had a time in his life where he did not feel that that world was right. Once when Abraham was a young boy he had to shoot an animal, and at that moment that the animal was dead his father was proud, but he wasn’t because he thought you should not harm a living creature nor judge it… just as well Caucasians judged African Americans and others of a different race, it was not right to judge a person like the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” and that’s exactly what they did, but to a human being.

Meaning• Lincoln’s speech reminded

Americans that the U.S. government was founded on the principle that “all men are created equal.” Everett delivered an angry speech that criticized the Confederacy.He showed optimism in healing the country and honoring the ideals our forefathers laid out.

• Abraham Lincoln felt the nation could not be called the “Land of the Free” if there was still people there who were not free and did not have rights. equal opportunity regardless of race or color, everybody should be able to succeed in life.

• Abraham Lincoln was trying to make Americans realize that the two different parts of the country needed to be one whole to succeed.

What do you think about the Gettysburg Address?

• Mattie Beauford- “I think it helped Americans realize that they needed to be a united country to succeed.”

• Lauren Hudson- “ I think the Gettysburg Address was just a speech made by one of our fore fathers saying that he doesn’t want our soldiers to be in battle for civil rights, he believes that we shouldn’t have a war because everyone is created equal in our society.”

• Camila Rodriguez- “I think that the Gettysburg Address was a good idea because it defended our rights.

Citations

• Connors, Tiffany. "How the Gettysburg Address Worked." How Stuff Works. A Discovery Company, 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 1 Jan. n.d. <http://history.howstuffworks.com/gettysburg-address3.htm>.

• "American Values." Mr. Eichmann's Blog. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. <http://johneichmann.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/american-values.pdf

• http://jc-schools.net/write/civil-war.htm. No author. Accessed October 12, 2011. 

• http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/99_00/cw/tmh/tmh.htm. No author. Accessed October 12, 2011.

•Created by Lauren Hudson, Camila Rodriguez, and Mattie Beauford.