Abraham Lincoln delivered this brief speech to dedicate the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863. We are called today to save his vision that a government “of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
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. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — 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.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Two centuries, two score and two years ago …
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Thanks for this. I wonder if anyone in the WH has read it recently–or ever.
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The Declaration of Independence was a very bold document (influenced by Thomas Paine). The resulting ‘Constitution’ was almost a rejection of those ideals, an attempt by the ‘ownership class ‘ to consolidate power (no women need concern their pretty little heads).
The struggle for the ideals outlined in the Declaration is ongoing, today. There has been an ebb and flow toward those goals. Lincolns address was coming in with the flow, but we are now experiencing an ebb tide.
To continue the analogy, the sea level has been rising (women, for example, are now part of the voting populace, and slavery is no longer legal). However, we still have a long way to go to realize the ideals envisioned by Paine. And, there is very little evidence that most people even understand our founding radical vision or care about the ideals enunciated. We are now ‘consumers’, and we consume each other.
The Declaration is not only a political statement, it enunciates a moral vision. We are, at best, halfway there. At worst, we are in retrograde from an odd little blip of freedom and dignity for the average person. On the other hand, with freedom comes responsibility, and so many Americans now want to watch from the sidelines, wring their hands and wag their tongues.
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Daedalus, so true! “The Declaration is not only a political statement, it enunciates a moral vision.”
As I looked around at the people in church this morning, I saw every race – people from around the world. After singing a patriotic hymn, “America the Beautiful” and then walking out and hearing the church bells ringing “God Bless America,” I greeted a woman from Hatii, a couple from Vietnam – a couple who escaped the war via a boat, immigrants from Central America… The Kiss of Peace was extended to all, regardless of native roots. This is Democracy in practice.
Today especially, the Powers that Be need to reflect on our Constitution: a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Education in a democratic republic is not to make a society a one thinking mind. The Powers that Be are corrupting our children for selfish purposes. They weren’t aiming to improve our Standards; NY had a great set of standards in place which supported all students. The Powers that Be imposed a new curriculum in an attempt to make our society fit into a mold. They began by limiting the thinking skills, excluding from the CC Standards the most important – the imagination. They have no respect for age appropriateness nor how children learn. They have no problem with forcing students to memorize meaningless facts and trying to force them to function above their competency. Leave it to the Standardized testing to push forward their agenda which only demoralizes some to the point their thirst for knowledge is squelched.
It would be interesting to see how many of these depraved young people that we hear about on the news is due to authorities destroying children’s self-worth. Such as the 15 year old girl who stole a van and piled in nine teenagers including her 18 month old baby. She lost control of the car and rolled killing three of the teenagers including her brother. Why would a young girl seek pleasure in such depraved acts? Was her self-worth destroyed by the Powers that Be via the CC and its standardized testing.
In contrast I think of another 15 year old who signed up for a philosophy course at Brown University this summer and signed up for an advanced math course via the Internet. During the school year as a freshman she enrolled in an after school club “Aeronautics Engineering.” Her group of five designed and built from scratch a functioning, flying drone-no model to follow. During the school year she also belonged to a traveling soccer team besides her school soccer team.
What caused two 15 year olds to travel such contrasting paths? Sure parents/caregivers have an input but the daily environment at school can affect the students for the good or bad. Schools have to go beyond exclusively emphasizing literacy and math. Schools need to help students discover their skills and talents in other areas e.g., science, music, gym, art…
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I love the Gettysburg Address by Abe Lincoln. When I was in the 6th grade, we memorized this great speech. It was fun reading / saying this speech out loud DAILY until we all knew this speech by heart. Yes, we did discuss the words Lincoln chose.
Too bad students these DAZE are being “Common Gored” to death. There isn’t time for the important learning … after all, gotta meet those “Common Whore Sh** Standards” and get tested to death constantly … as if the teachers don’t know. The teachers know more than any test and standards. Kids are not automobiles with interchangeable parts.
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