(A) ** “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure.”
(B) “We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”
(C) “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.”
(D) “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
EXPLANATIONS BELOW
Concept note-1: -That is the idea Lincoln refers to in this section of the speech: The Civil War was testing whether the United States, which was founded on liberty and equality, could survive.
Concept note-2: -Without the phrase, Lincoln would only be talking about the survival of a specific place, the nation founded in 1776 (“that nation”). With the phrase – “or any nation so conceived or dedicated” he says the question is not just the survival of that nation – but any nation built on the same principles.
Concept note-3: -On November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln gives his most famous speech as president. This address takes place at union cemetery after the Battle of Gettysburg and is meant to help mourn the loss of the soldiers that died, but it did way more than that.
Concept note-4: -Which statement best describes Lincoln’s views on the importance of the Civil War? Lincoln believes that the war will reveal or show whether or not a country committed to liberty and equality can survive.