Ghettysburg Address Essay

The Civil War was a time in America’s history that remains bitter and controversial.American bullets pierced American hearts.American fathers killed American sons.Yet if it had not taken place, the United States of America would have been torn in two. Many say that the turning point of the war was the Battle of Gettysburg.Almost six thousand men lost their lives, and more than four times as many were wounded.The dedication ceremony was held at Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg, which had been, only months before, a bloodstained battlefield. Many heavy hearts must have trudged up the hill that day.Would all their hopes and dreams for the war end in a cemetery?Had the brave soldiers fought in vain?They had gained a victory, but were all the sacred lives worth the price? While these and other thoughts must have run through the minds of the Americans present, Edward Everett spoke, and after a long speech, it was President Abraham Lincoln’s turn to try to console the crowd and dedicate the field. Lincoln then, in minutes, summarized the reason for the American Civil War in his now famous Gettysburg Address.Their dreams were not hopeless; the war was not being fought in vain. It was being fought to determine whether a freedom loving country would- or could -survive.Lincoln emphasized that American was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. This statement truly summarizes not only what America is founded upon, but also what will keep the country strong and thriving for years to come. It was, as Lincoln said, “fitting and proper” to dedicate the battlefield. However, it already had been dedicated by the brave fight for America’s future that had taken place there in the Battle of Gettysburg. President Lincoln then challenged them all to continue fighting for the cause that all the soldiers had died for- keeping America alive.…