Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade AmericaThe power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead, he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom" in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire life and previous training, and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece. By examining both the address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world and to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns, and how Lincoln wove a spell that has not yet been broken. |
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... contrast, more surprising to us thanto contemporaries, with thecasual invitation to President Lincoln, issued one month later aspartofa general call forthe federal Cabinet andother celebrities tojoin inwhat wasessentially a ceremony of ...
... contrast, more surprising to us thanto contemporaries, with thecasual invitation to President Lincoln, issued one month later aspartofa general call forthe federal Cabinet andother celebrities tojoin inwhat wasessentially a ceremony of ...
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... destiny's guidance. Inspiration was shed on him in the presence of others. The contrast with Everett's long labors of preparation is always implied. Research, learning, the student's lamp—none of these were needed by Lincoln,
... destiny's guidance. Inspiration was shed on him in the presence of others. The contrast with Everett's long labors of preparation is always implied. Research, learning, the student's lamp—none of these were needed by Lincoln,
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... contrast with his otherwise black attire. David Wills had gambled on the weather whenhe let Everett delay this outdoor ceremony;butthe pumpkintime, good formoving corpses, turned out to be just asgoodfor listening tolong speechesunder a ...
... contrast with his otherwise black attire. David Wills had gambled on the weather whenhe let Everett delay this outdoor ceremony;butthe pumpkintime, good formoving corpses, turned out to be just asgoodfor listening tolong speechesunder a ...
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... contrast of length with Everett's talk raises a false issue. Lincoln's text. is. startlingly brief for what it accomplished, but that would be equally true if Everett had spoken forashorter time or had not spoken atall. The contrast in ...
... contrast of length with Everett's talk raises a false issue. Lincoln's text. is. startlingly brief for what it accomplished, but that would be equally true if Everett had spoken forashorter time or had not spoken atall. The contrast in ...
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... demotic oratory. Everett's classicism was as much the forerunner of Lincoln's talkasits foil or contrast. The classicism of Everett's opening references atGettysburg should not be taken as mere antiquarian reverence for the past.
... demotic oratory. Everett's classicism was as much the forerunner of Lincoln's talkasits foil or contrast. The classicism of Everett's opening references atGettysburg should not be taken as mere antiquarian reverence for the past.
Contents
Gettysburg and the Culture of Death | |
The Transcendental Declaration | |
Revolution in Thought | |
Revolution in Style | |
Epilogue | |
Appendices | |
Four Funeral Orations | |
Spoken Text | |
Photographs | |
Index to the Gettysburg Address | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abraham Lincoln American army Athenian Athens Bancroft battle burial called Civil claim classical Cobbe edition Confederate Congress Constitution contrast copy corps Daniel Webster dead death Declaration of Independence dedication delivery text Demosthenes Douglas draft emancipation Emancipation Proclamation Emerson enemy Epitaphios equal Everett express fathers Funeral gave George George Bancroft Gettysburg Address Gorgias graves Greece Greek Greek Revival Harvard Herndon Herndon-Weik heroes honor human Hyperides Ibid idea ideal Illinois Invention of Athens James John Justice Kerameikos language liberty living Loraux Lysias Mark Twain Meade Menexenus military monument Mount Auburn nation nature Nicolay North oration patriotic Pericles platform political praise President proposition Rebel rebellion Revolution rhetoric Saunders sentence Seward Slave Power slavery soldiers South Southern speak speech Theodore Parker thing thought Thucydides Transcendentalism Transcendentalist troops Union United University Press Washington whole William words