The Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln delivered this speech to a crowd of people after the great Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. This was one of the bloodiest battles where many men lost their lives. Lincoln mentions the men who fought in this speech, dead and alive. This speech was a short little thing and many people were disappointed in what had been delivered to them. They wanted to hear something that would give them hope and make them feel relaxed. But, that is not what he Lincoln delivered to them. Only a short, little three paragraph writing people took it as a joke.

In a way I believe Lincoln goes against Thoreau's ideas or "philosophy." Thoreau doesn't have a set philosophy so it is hard to compare. But Thoreau believed in less government and less control and just let things unfold however they are meant to be. Things that are meant to be will come to be and if it is not exactly what you expected it to be well then that's life. But, war is completely against this idea. War is controlling and trying to change a certain way of people. This makes things unfold a certain way. Thoreau believed each person could decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Men lost their lives on the scene where Lincoln was delivering this speech, " 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." (Lincoln) If men believed that losing their life was worth fighting for their country then so be it. All people had to live for something and this is what they let swallow their life. I think Thoreau would disagree on sacrificing your life in a war but if it was something they truly believed in then Thoreau would support their passion for their country because he believes everyone has their own set of morals and can decide for themselves what is right or wrong.

"After having read them, we cannot say that we are wiser or more learned than we were before; we cannot say that we have become acquainted with any new facts in the history of man or of the universe, or that we have any new ideas in regard to the human soul or its Creator; but we feel, that somehow or other new virtue has been imparted to us, that a change has come over us, and that we are no longer what we were, but greater and better." (Brownson) Referring to Emerson's works. I believe this is EXACTLY what Lincoln does in this writing. It is very simple and doesn't say anything the people didn't already know but in a way it is inspiring. Lincoln makes us feel strong, "and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Lincoln) This sounds like the war is not over but neither is the good life we had before the war started. The government and system we had going before will not perish we will continue fighting until all is well again.

Brownson, Orestes Augustus. "Emerson's Essays." Boston Quarterly Review, July 1841: 292. Quoted as "Emerson's Essays" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." Abraham Lincoln Online. 19 Nov. 1863. Web. 2012.