USA HISTORY

Lincoln was not very impressed with his own speech. And not everyone who heard it that day paid much attention. But journalists (news reporters) printed copies of Lincoln’s words in newspapers around the country, and tbe nation felt a boost of purpose for the war. The Emancipation Proclamation had given the war a purpose, and now the Gettysburg Address boosted that sense of purpose even more. They were fighting and perhaps dying to help our nation get closer to being what it was meant to be, a nation of freedom.Which statement is the most consistant with the above paragraph?

(A) The Gettysburg Address expressed the great sadness that the nation felt because so many soldiers had died at Gettysburg needlessly.

(B) ** The Gettysburg Address reminded the nation that it was created to be a nation where all men are created equal.

Concept note-1: -There is some debate about the immediate public reaction to the Gettysburg Address. Some newspapers panned it, others loved it. According to some accounts, the crowd gathered for the dedication didn’t think it was a very good speech for the occasion-and neither did Lincoln himself.

Concept note-2: -The main message of the Gettysburg Address is that ideals are worth dying for and that it is up to the living to carry on the work of those who died to protect ideals. The ideals of equality and freedom are the bedrock of the United States as a nation.

Concept note-3: -The Gettysburg address is one of the most important speeches given during the time of the civil war. This speech encapsulates everything that the United States was struggling with during that time. Abraham Lincoln is able to use this speech as a sign of hope for the thousands of people who have lost it.