Abraham Lincoln
Words on freedom, equality, and democratic purpose
About Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States. He led the country through the Civil War, opposed the expansion of slavery, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and argued that the nation must fulfill its founding promise of equality. His speeches and letters are known for their moral clarity, plain language, and enduring reflections on liberty and democratic government.
From Abraham Lincoln's collections
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Gettysburg Address
A brief address on sacrifice, equality, and self-government
Ten lines from Lincoln's address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg.
“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 t…”
“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.”
“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 for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
“The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
“The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
“The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”
“The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”
“But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.”
“But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.”
“It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
“It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
“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.”
“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.”
“We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”
“We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the propositi…”
“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.”
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