The Gettysburg Address (1863)—Defining the American Union

Lesson Plan Three of the Curriculum Unit: "A Word Fitly Spoken": Abraham Lincoln on the American Union

Introduction

This lesson will examine the most famous speech in American history to understand how Lincoln turned a perfunctory eulogy at a cemetery dedication into a concise and profound meditation on the meaning of the Civil War and American union.

This lesson will especially benefit teachers of AP U.S. History classes by deepening student understanding of the momentous themes of freedom, equality, and emancipation, listed in the Course Description as "Emancipation and the role of African Americans in the war," a subtopic under "Civil War." The learning activities will strengthen the higher order thinking skills students will need to do well on the AP exam, particularly the DBQ and essay part of the exam, by guiding them through an analysis of the themes that animate the Gettysburg Address, as they evaluate and judge Lincoln's enduring speech in light of an example of contemporary criticism that it drew.

Guiding Question

Learning Objectives

• Explain why some Northern Democrats criticized Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
• Explain why Lincoln thought July 4, 1776, was the birthday of the United States.
• Articulate the connection Lincoln made between emancipation and preserving the Union.
• Describe the "unfinished task" that Lincoln presented to the American people at Gettysburg.

Background Information for the Teacher

Although Lincoln believed America was "conceived in liberty," this conception did not produce liberty for all; the Civil War was testimony to that. What began as a "self-evident" truth in 1776 had become by 1860 a "proposition" to be demonstrated. As Lincoln put it in an 1855 letter, "On the question of liberty, as a principle, we are not what we have been." At the Founding, most white Americans tolerated slavery as a necessary evil, while they tried to establish the institutions and practices of self-government for most, if not all, of America's inhabitants. But once cotton became "king" as the South's chief export, Southerners began defending the black slavery that produced it as "a positive good." This eventually led some Americans in the North, helped by Stephen Douglas's "popular sovereignty" policy, to be indifferent towards black slavery and hence its spread into federal territories. This shift in public opinion about the evil of slavery, Lincoln thought, undermined the future of freedom for whites as well as blacks, for if race could be used as a reason for some to enslave others, what would prevent a future majority from enslaving a minority on the basis of some other arbitrary characteristic or interest?

So in the midst of a war that could very well destroy the Union and spell the end of self-government (if secession were to succeed), Lincoln presents "the great task remaining before us": a fight to secure "government of the people, by the people, for the people." The three-day battle at Gettysburg doubled the losses of any of the major conflicts of the war up to that point: Union army casualties totaled 23,000—over a quarter of Gen. George G. Meade's men—while the Confederate dead, wounded, or missing have been estimated at 24,000 to 28,000-about a third of Gen. Robert E. Lee's army. Thus, Lincoln saw the Civil War as a severe test of whether or not self-government "so conceived and so dedicated can long endure."

At the outset, Lincoln prosecuted the war only to preserve the Union, but abolitionists hoped the war would free the slaves. As commander-in-chief, Lincoln waited until emancipation became "a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion" before issuing the liberating decree on January 1, 1863. This made 1863 the Year of Jubilee, with freedom proclaimed to slaves throughout the rebellious sections of the country. Emancipation thus became the backdrop for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address later that year. (For additional information about the Emancipation Proclamation, see Section VIII below, "Extending the Lesson," and a related lesson plan, The Emancipation Proclamation: Freedom's First Steps.)

With Emancipation declared for the vast majority of American slaves, Lincoln asked Americans to see that the fight to defend the Constitution and Union had become, as well, a fight to defend the freedom of the former slaves of the rebel states. Given the controversy about the Emancipation Proclamation, even in the North, Lincoln did not spell out in detail that a successful war for union had to be a war for emancipation; his Gettysburg Address, therefore, never mentions the Emancipation Proclamation or slavery. Nevertheless, he also never uses the word "union," choosing instead to speak of a "nation" dedicated to liberty at its birth, a "nation" tested for that belief, and hence a "nation" he hopes will experience a "new birth of freedom." No longer will the war be fought simply to preserve "the Constitution as it is, the Union as it was"—a popular slogan of Northern "peace Democrats." As Lincoln put it in his December 1, 1862 State of the Union address, "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."

In his Address to Congress in Special Session (July 4, 1861), Lincoln said the attempt of certain states to secede raised profound questions for America: "Is there, in all republics, this inherent, and fatal weakness?" "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" He declared that "this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic, or a democracy—a government of the people, by the same people—can, or cannot, maintain its territorial integrity, against its own domestic foes." His use of the phrase, "a government of the people, by the same people," which he repeats later in the Gettysburg Address, indicates his abiding concern for the viability of self-government.

To "save the union" was to save what Lincoln called "the last best hope of earth," for the union's survival entailed the survival of the Constitution and the rule of law from the anarchic principle of secession, what Lincoln called "rebellion sugar-coated." In Lincoln's mind, defending the American union from those who sought to divide it was the urgent business of every true lover of liberty, and thus the highest tribute the living could render the dead who were buried at Gettysburg. Thus Lincoln turned a cemetery dedication into a dedication of the living to a certain course of action: "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." For the dead not to have died in vain, Lincoln exhorts his audience to pursue that "new birth of freedom" by defending the Union and securing the equal liberty for which it stands.

Ironically, Lincoln does so by depreciating the value of words in the face of deeds: "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." Of course, the world can best remember the deeds of the dead precisely through the eloquence of words, something the keynote speaker Edward Everett conceded to Lincoln when he said that he "should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion in two hours, as you did in two minutes." Imagine if subsequent generations had to rely upon Everett's oration to recall the feats of those who died at Gettysburg! Words do make a difference, and in a way that belies a superficial reading of Lincoln's confession of an orator's "poor power to add or detract."

Not everyone was enthralled with Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, even in the North. The Chicago Times, a Democratic newspaper and longtime critic of Lincoln, thought he exploited the cemetery dedication for political purposes. In an editorial written a few days after the Gettysburg ceremony, the Times argued that Union soldiers fought only to defend the Constitution and Union against rebellious citizens, and not, as Lincoln asserted, to inaugurate "a new birth of freedom" for blacks as well as whites. Most northern, Democratic newspapers simply ignored the president's brief remarks or joined the Chicago Times in criticizing Lincoln for his partisanship and for siding with the "negro" as the equal of whites.

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

• This lesson makes use of written primary source documents and worksheets, available both online and in the Text Document that accompanies this lesson. Students can read and analyze source materials online, or do some of the work online and some in class from printed copies.
• Read over the lesson. Bookmark the websites that you will use. If students will be working from printed copies in class, download the documents from the Text Document and duplicate as many copies as you will need.

  If students need practice in analyzing primary source documents, excellent resource materials are available at the EDSITEment-reviewed Learning Page of the Library of Congress. Helpful Document Analysis Worksheets may be found at the site of the National Archives.

To enhance student learning even further, prior to the debate and if time permits, an interactive timeline has been included with this lesson designed to provide the student with more information-aural, visual, and textual-on the context of the Gettysburg Address. Because the interactive provides background material, it is listed first in the following section.

Suggested Activities

Activity: Evaluating the Gettysburg Address

This lesson is built around the following sequence of tasks:

• Students gain contextual information by accessing the interactive (optional).
• Students read the primary text of this lesson: Abraham Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address" (November 19, 1863).
• Students analyze supplementary texts:
  • Chicago Times Editorial, "The President at Gettysburg" (November 23, 1863);
  • Abraham Lincoln, "Response to a Serenade" (July 7, 1863).
• Students re-read and analyze the primary text: Abraham Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address" (November 19, 1863).
• Students interrogate Lincoln with questions of their own making and then evaluate whether or not Lincoln's answers stand up to the criticism of the editorial.

The Gettysburg Address: An Initial Reading

After students have read the Gettysburg Address, divide the class into groups of three or four for collaborative work on the following documents and accompanying questions.

Chicago Times Editorial, "The President at Gettysburg" (November 23, 1863)

Have students read the Times editorial to gain perspective and ideas to interrogate Lincoln on his purposes for his Gettysburg eulogy. A link to the full text of the editorial can be found at the EDSITEment-reviewed site Teaching American History. The relevant excerpt is also included in the Text Document on pages 2-3, and can be printed out for student use. While in their groups, have students work together on the answers to the following questions, which are also available in worksheet form on page 4 of the Text Document:

• In the second paragraph of the editorial, what were the author's criticisms of Lincoln's address?
• What subject is being addressed in the passages from the Constitution included by the author?
• What does the author want to show when he quotes passages from the Constitution and then derides Lincoln for talking about equality of all human beings in his Gettysburg remarks?
• What disagreements over 'the cause for which they died' between Lincoln and the author can you infer from the editorial? For what cause does the author think the Union soldiers died at Gettysburg? For what cause does Lincoln think they died?
• What words would you use to describe the tone of the author in the editorial?

Then have the group synthesize the criticisms into two or three questions which they will use to interrogate Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address. If students need help with this exercise, guide them through the process of turning a criticism into a question. For example, the Chicago Times editorial interprets the Constitution not as presuming the equality of men but rather the preservation of slavery, so the following question for Lincoln could be constructed: How can Lincoln say that our forefathers dedicated this nation to "the proposition that all men are created equal" when the Constitution assumes the inequality of men by permitting and safeguarding slavery?

After they have framed two or three questions, tell students to put the questions aside for use later in the lesson.

Abraham Lincoln, "Response to a Serenade" (July 7, 1863): A Trial Run for Lincoln's Official Dedicatory Remarks

Have students read Lincoln's "Response to a Serenade" (July 7, 1863), and then answer the questions below, which are also available in worksheet form on page 6 of the Text Document. A link to the text of the Response to a Serenade can be found at the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed site Lincoln/Net. Lincoln's "Response to a Serenade" is also included in the Text Document on page 5, and can be printed out for student use.

• Why does Lincoln call July 4, 1776 "the birthday of the United States of America"? Given that the War for Independence would not be over until the Treaty of Paris in 1783, what was introduced on July 4th that Lincoln views as the start of a new nation?
• Lincoln calls the Southern attempt at secession "a gigantic Rebellion." What did Lincoln say was its fundamental aim?
• What does Lincoln say was the fundamental aim of the federal military throughout the Civil War?

The Gettysburg Address: Analysis of Lincoln's "Few Appropriate Remarks"

• Why does Lincoln begin his eulogy to the soldiers buried at Gettysburg with a reference to "Four score and seven years ago"? (Hint: What significant event happened in America eighty-seven years before 1863?)
• The Declaration of Independence says "all men are created equal" is a "self-evident" truth, suggesting that human equality is obvious to any unbiased person. Why does Lincoln at Gettysburg call human equality a "proposition," meaning something that needs to be proven? (Hint: What does the Civil War suggest about American convictions in the 1860s regarding human equality?)
• What does Lincoln mean by calling the Civil War a test of the ability of the nation to "long endure"?
• What does Lincoln say is the best way for the living to honor the dead at Gettysburg? (Hint: How does Lincoln use the idea of dedication to shift his audience from the ceremony at the battlefield cemetery to the audience's responsibility once the ceremony is over?)
• What is "the unfinished work" or "great task remaining before" his audience, the American people?
• What is "the cause" for which the soldiers buried at Gettysburg "gave the last full measure of devotion"?
• What is "the new birth of freedom" Lincoln calls for, and how does it differ from the nation's original birth? (Hint: Who were the main beneficiaries of the original birth of freedom in 1776, and who does Lincoln think will experience the new birth of freedom if the federal military wins the war?)

Put Lincoln in the Hot Seat: Interrogate Him!

Students Decide: Did Lincoln's Answers Pass the Test?

Assessment

• For what causes did Lincoln believe the soldiers were fighting in the Civil War?
• Why date the nation's birth or origin to the Declaration of Independence and not the ratification of the Constitution?
• How does a nation ensure that free government "shall not perish from the earth"? What is "the great task remaining before" any free people?
• What were the main differences between the editorialist from the Chicago Times and President Lincoln on the purpose of the Civil War?
• For further thought and reflection:
  • Count how often Lincoln uses the word "nation" in his Gettysburg Address. Why do you think he uses "nation" repeatedly, and not the word "union" at all? What might "nation" suggest or make clear that "union" does not?
  • Lincoln never mentions slavery in his Gettysburg Address. Why not? How is it implied in his dedicatory remarks?

Extending the Lesson

Abraham Lincoln, "Final Emancipation Proclamation" (January 1, 1863): An Introduction to the "Central Act" of Lincoln's Presidency

Have students read Abraham Lincoln's "Final Emancipation Proclamation" and answer the questions that follow below, which are available in worksheet form on page 10 of the Text Document. A link to the full text of the Emancipation Proclamation can be found at the EDSITEment-reviewed site Emancipation Proclamation of the National Archives. The relevant excerpts from the Emancipation Proclamation are also included in the Text Document on page 9, and can be printed out for student use.

• The Constitution required that fugitive (or escaped) slaves be returned to their masters, a mandate that was enforced by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. What effect does Lincoln's Proclamation have on "persons held as slaves" in rebellious areas of the United States?
• Besides protecting their efforts to "labor faithfully for reasonable wages," what additional opportunity does the Emancipation Proclamation offer the freed slaves?
• What reasons does Lincoln give to justify the Emancipation Proclamation? (Recall that at his presidential inauguration, Lincoln declared no intention "to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.")

Abraham Lincoln, "Final Emancipation Proclamation" (January 1, 1863): Further Consideration of the "Central Act" of Lincoln's Presidency

Have students read the full text of Abraham Lincoln's "Final Emancipation Proclamation" and answer the questions that follow below, which are available in worksheet form on pages 13-14 of the Text Document. A link to the text of the Emancipation Proclamation can be found at the EDSITEment-reviewed site The Gettysburg Address of the National Archives. The full text of the Emancipation Proclamation is also included in the Text Document on pages 11-12, and can be printed out for student use.

• Which slaveholding states did the Emancipation Proclamation apply to, and which slaveholding states were not included in this proclamation? (Hint: Ten slaveholding states were covered by the Emancipation Proclamation and five slaveholding states were not covered.)
• Why did the Emancipation Proclamation not apply to all the slaveholding states? What did a slaveholding state have to do (by January 1, 1863) to avoid having their slaves freed under the Emancipation Proclamation?
• According to the Emancipation Proclamation, what authority did Lincoln have to free certain slaves and for what constitutional purpose?
• Contrasting the Emancipation Proclamation with the Gettysburg Address, which sounds more eloquent? What explains this difference? (Hint: think about the different aims of the documents and different occasions that moved Lincoln to write them.)

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Next Lesson Plan

Return to the Curriculum Unit Overview: "A Word Fitly Spoken": Abraham Lincoln on the American Union

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• Declare the Causes: The Declaration of Independence
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=282]
• The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=233]
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=661]
• Abraham Lincoln, the 1860 Election, and the Future of the American Union and Slavery
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=662]
• We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=246]
• The Emancipation Proclamation: Freedom's First Steps
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=290]
• Lincoln Goes to War
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=263]

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• American Memory at the Library of Congress
  http://memory.loc.gov/
  • Gettysburg Address
    http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/images/Gettysburg-2.jpg
• Lincoln/Net
  http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/
  • Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
    http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/
    • Response to a Serenade, July 7, 1863
• National Archives
  http://www.archives.gov/
  • Emancipation Proclamation
    http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/
    emancipation_proclamation/transcript.html
• Teaching American History
  http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org
  • Chicago Times Editorial, "The President at Gettysburg"
    http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1721