*
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – Nov. 19, 1863
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. 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. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that 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.”
Image of Lincoln by Charles White
Robert said,
February 13, 2013 at 00:29
Lincoln only used the (black) slave-issue to gain support for
his war to keep the southern states from splitting from the union.
In numerous letters and talks with people , he referred to African-americans as n*gg*rs or negroes and didn’t want them to come
in great numbers to the Northern states , gain influence , voting rights ,
and absolutely not to intermarry with white people..
He saw the white race as superiour to nonwhites.
He was only prepared to give other races some limited rights.
just google ; ‘Lincoln racist quotes’ , there are also several books
on this subject or if you don’t believe them , examine original
documents.
Much of what he said in his speeches to gain support for his war with
the southern states was just politics and propaganda , just like when
presidents of today talk about ‘bringing freedom and democracy’
when they destroy states for oil ,other resources and money ,killing
maim and wound millions in the process
and take away ‘freedom and democracy’ at home.
No matter how beautiful those speeches are stated.
Sorry if this shatters your illusion of Lincoln as the ‘Great Emancipator’
I also believed it once.
But the thruth is the thruth , and clinging to an illusion like this only
will cloud your perception ,also of current events.
ET said,
February 14, 2013 at 03:21
Robert said,
February 13, 2013 at 00:29
Yes, I agree with your assessment: Lincoln was no saint. Much of what he did was COMPLETELY unconstitutional, but he got away with that if only because he was backed by a Congress intent upon foisting misery upon those whom did not kowtow to their wishes.
In fact, there is an author who’s documented much of the evil: Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
One of his books:
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War
Another author is Thomas DiLorenzo. A few of his books are:
The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War
Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe
Upon consuming those books, one really comes to understand that the ‘official story,’ i.e., the propaganda, is so thoroughly flawed as to dishonour even the man himself.