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The Gettysburg Gospel - The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows (Standard format, CD, Library ed)
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The Gettysburg Gospel - The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows (Standard format, CD, Library ed)
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The literature of the Gettysburg Address tends to fall into one of
two extremes. At one end are those books that maintain that Lincoln
wrote his speech hastily, even on a scrap of paper on the train en
route from Washington to Gettysburg. In this version, Lincoln
delivered his remarks to an uncomprehending public, which applauded
politely, failing to appreciate his genius. Many of the books that
argue this point of view are out of print today, but the myths and
legends live on.
At the other end of the spectrum are those books that argue that
Lincoln's remarks were written with great care and that they
altered the course of the Civil War, even of the country. This
point of view exalts the Gettysburg Address at the expense of the
Emancipation Proclamation, which had been made public eleven months
earlier.
Gabor Boritt, a Lincoln and Civil War scholar who teaches at
Gettysburg College and lives in an old farmhouse adjacent to the
battlefield, says that Lincoln's remarks were written rapidly,
though not at the last minute, and they received attention, though
not nearly so much attention as the lengthy remarks of the featured
speaker, Edward Everett. But Lincoln's address was largely
forgotten for decades afterward. It had no effect on the Civil War
and played no role in American history until the twentieth century.
Boritt narrates the events of November 19, 1863, as well as the
events preceding and following the dedication of the soldiers'
cemetery, which was the occasion for Lincoln's remarks. He
describes the conditions in Gettysburg in the aftermath of the
battle--the stench of rotting corpses of horses and mules filling
the air, wounded soldiers occupying hospitals and houses
everywhere, and the damage done to roads and houses that were still
being repaired when the cemetery was dedicated. He describes
Lincoln's arrival by train, the cheering crowds that applauded the
president that night before the ceremony, and the events of the
great day itself, as well as the immediate aftermath of the
ceremonies as the town tried to return to its pre-battle life.
Boritt's vivid narrative is filled with colorful, little-known
details. It re-creates the events, but it also assesses the
significance of Lincoln's remarks and places them in their proper
historical context as no book has before, showing how the remarks
that were quickly forgotten took on a new life decades later and
became the most famous speech in American history.
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