This famous text, which now adorns the Lincoln Memorial, actually comes from a version that Lincoln hand wrote in March 1864. The version below, for example, was not merely the second draft of Lincoln’s response to the July serenade. Such writing, of course, requires careful composition and revision. He did not name individuals or policies, but instead Lincoln used the language of American politics, culture and religious faith to help inspire his listeners and readers. There are many ways to interpret its meaning, but one of the most powerful insights concerns how Lincoln subtly worked to evoke memories in his audience.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was short –a mere ten sentences– but it has become the most famous speech in American history. Near the beginning of his brief remarks, Lincoln observed, “How long ago was it –eighty odd years– since on the Fourth of July for the first time in the history of the world a nation by its representatives, assembled and declared as a self-evident truth that ‘all men are created equal.” Of course, while the president did not know it at the time, this passage represented the first draft of the famous, far more poetic, opening of his address delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863. On July 7, 1863, in the immediate aftermath of the news reaching Washington DC that Union forces had not only won a major battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but also had prevailed in a long bloody, siege at Vicksburg, Mississippi, President Abraham Lincoln responded to a “serenade” from a crowd outside the White House with an impromptu speech. …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.

The full gettysburg address