The State of Disunion
- This speech is so short and sweet—thanks, Honest Abe—that we're just going to summarize the whole thing in one go.
- Lincoln reminded the crowd that while the soldiers may have felt down, they were certainly not out of the fight.
- It wasn't that long ago that America was founded on the principle that "all men are created equal."
- But the Union was now in a fight for its ideals and very survival.
- Although Lincoln was there to dedicate a battlefield cemetery, it was beyond the ability of mere mortals to honor those men; history will remember the sacrifice they made.
- The work of the American people, however, was just getting started.
- Lincoln wanted to make sure that the soldiers had not died in vain, and that the Union would endure.
- Fin. The end. That Lincoln was direct.