Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”
November 19, 1863; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
272 words. 3 minutes long. Yet, the Gettysburg Address is unarguably one of the greatest pieces of rhetoric in American history. Dr. J Rufus Fears (one of the great modern orators) argues that the Gettysburg Address, along with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, form the three founding documents of American freedom. And I have to agree.
The Battle of Gettysburg left 8,000 men dead. The bodies were too numerous to bury properly and many were at first placed in shallow graves. Weeks after the battle, heads and arms were sticking up through the ground and the smell of rotting flesh was sickening.
Money was raised for a proper reburial, and it was decided that the new cemetery should be dedicated, to sweeten the air of Gettysburg, to solemnize this place of death. As was traditional, a great orator, in this case, Edward Everett, was asked to give a solemn and grand speech as a memorial to the fallen men. Lincoln was asked 2 months later, almost as a causal afterthought. He was to add a few remarks to Everett’s, a function much like the man with the ceremonial scissors who cuts the ribbon. Legends has it that Lincoln’s remarks were the product of pure inspiration, penned on the back of an envelope on the train chugging its way to the soon-to-be hallowed grounds of Gettysburg.
On the day of the dedication, Everett kept the crowd enthralled for a full two hours. Lincoln got up, gave his speech, and sat down even before the photographer had finished setting up for a picture. There was a long pause before anyone applauded, and then the applause was scattered and polite.
Not everyone immediately realized the magnificence of Lincoln’s address. But some did. In a letter to Lincoln, Everett praised the President for his eloquent and concise speech, saying, “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”
And of course, in time, we have come to fully appreciate the genius and beauty of the words spoken that day. Dr. Fears argues that Lincoln’s address did more than memorialize the fallen soldiers at Gettysburg; it accomplished nothing short of transforming the entire meaning of the Civil War. There were no details of the battle mentioned in the speech, no mentioning of soldier’s names, of Gettysburg itself, of the South nor the Union, states rights nor secession. Rather, Lincoln meant the speech to be something far larger, a discourse on the experiment testing whether government can maintain the proposition of equality. At Gettysburg, the Constitution experienced a transformation. The first birth has been tainted by slavery. The men, of both North and South, lying in the graves at Gettysburg had made an atoning sacrifice for this great evil. And the Constitution would be reborn, this time living up to its promises of freedom and equality for all.
The Speech
Four score 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.
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I. The disciples had little motivation to lie.
A. Not only was it contrary to their strict morality, it would gain them nothing.
B. Being a Christian back then was a ticket to ridicule and persecution. They were promised the same fate as their Master (Matt. 10:23-25).
C. Every apostle except John (who probably died a natural death) was killed because of his belief in Jesus. In other words, they signed their testimony in blood.
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II. In a court of law these writers would qualify as the very best of witnesses.
A. In court, the testimony of a witness can be impeached by one of five lines of attack:
1. By proving that the witness, on a previous occasion, has made statements inconsistent with his present testimony.
2. By demonstrating bias in the witness.
3. By attacking the character of the witness.
4. By questioning the capacity in the witness to observe, remember, or recount the matters testified about.
5. By proving through other witnesses that material facts are otherwise than as testified.
B. The testimony of these men is not vulnerable to any of these charges:
1. There is no conflicting or inconsistent testimony.
a. There is no evidence that the Gospel writers claimed at a previous time that the events in question never happened.
b. Instead, they began proclaiming the salient facts from the outset and those facts didn’t change.
2. The issue of bias and self-interest strengthens the credibility of the witnesses’ testimony rather than weakens it.
a. The lives of the witnesses to Jesus Christ were continually in peril. In many cases the early Christians were driven underground into hiding, yet they clung fervently to their testimony, affirming the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
b. For this testimony they were crucified en mass, fed to the lions, sacrificed by Roman gladiators, beheaded or made into human torches.
c. One simple thing would have saved them this torment: recanting their testimony. These witnesses did exactly the opposite of what self-interest would dictate.
3. There is no evidence to impugn the witnesses’ character, indicating that they might be lying.
Not only was it totally inconsistent with the moral standard they professed and lived by, but also there was no motivation to fabricate.
4. The unique nature of the events and the nature of the testimony lend themselves to accurate observation and recall.
a. Their is no direct evidence that the witnesses’ capacity to observe was distorted.
b. The accounts are clear and lucid, giving an abundance of detail.
c. The accounts read like the testimony of one intimately acquainted with the facts of the issue, someone who was personally involved with the process, who was proximal to the events in question, and who had repeated opportunity to observe those events.
d. Matthew and John personally made visual identification of the risen Christ, an individual they had spent more than three years with in intimate, personal contact.
5. John and Matthew corroborate each other and are supported by other extraneous evidence.
a. Disproving the facts of the first witness is generally accomplished using the testimony of a second witness. When we compare the testimony of the eyewitnesses John and Matthew, however, we find that their accounts mesh.
b. Their accounts also coincide with the historical summaries given by Luke, the companion of Paul, and Mark, the Apostle Peter’s companion.
c. Since each one’s experience with Jesus was not the same, there are some differences, as you’d expect.
1) There is sufficient unanimity between the witnesses to demonstrate corroboration.
2) But there is sufficient variation in details and viewpoints in the accounts to eliminate the charge of collaboration.
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@the student world who understands that point in the essay when all inspiration catches a breeze and leaves you completely and all of the websites all seem to say the same thing that doesn’t help…
…I really was looking for Bobby Kennedy’s address on Martin Luther King Jr.’s assignation…that is what this wretched essay is on. The funny part is that it was a pretty fun essay- I was rather passionate about the subject-until I contracted writer’s block…oh well. I also agree with whoever said Gen. Patton should have made the cut.
Great compilation of speeches. we, as Indonesian, also have an outstanding orator in our great history, called Soekarno.check and see how powerful and provoking his speeches were.good luck!!!
Fantastic list, I agree with all the choices (and was pleased to learn of some I didn’t know before). I have another strong contender, not delivered by a man, but well worthy of this list: Queen Elizabeth I’s speech at Tilbury, to rally the English militia against the Spanish Armada invasion force:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_to_the_Troops_at_Tilbury
i agree with all of these speeches listed here as being great speeches except for the speech by “jesus christ” i cant understand why you would list a speech given by a fictional character.
considering that MLK had several historic and often quoted speeches and that other leaders also did (like malcolm) and that several of the people listed were listed multiple times……. i would say that this list is definitely ethno centric towards anglo people
and what is this throwing in fictional mythical characters from 2000 years ago, or poorly documented speeches given on the other side of the world by people long long ago before accurate history?
it makes the list just a list of some of your favorites, and not what the title says.
How about Halie selasis speech to the UN?
On the question of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who will learn, this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil.
Probably my favorite post here . Well done.
I entirely agree with your post about Emperor Haille Selassie. He deserves a place in this list.
“Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
William Jennings Bryan
Prophet Muhammad’s last sermon speech. check it out!
If I may add Mark Antony’s speech after the death of Caesar. His words laid the foundation of the Roman Empire by turning public opinion against Brutus and the other conspirators.
Consider adding Jawaharlal Nehru`s ‘TRYST WITH DESTINY’ speech commemorating India`s independence, and considered one of the 20th century`s landmark speeches. The impact of India`s independence on the crumbling of British colonialism cannot be underestimated, and that speech encapsulated it superbly.
It should also be noted that in Pericles’s “Funeral Oration” he invented the term “democracy” and established the first democracy in Athens ,where all soliders that were citizens of Athens who had fought in a war could vote. This was first brought about in his speech.
Ronald Reagan had several speeches on the list, but I thought one more was worth mentioning: “A Time for Choosing” in which he endorsed Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. Many see this speech as the beginning of Reagan’s rise in politics which culminated in his 1980 landslide victory over Carter. Considering the changesMany things Reagan said then are still echoing now. For example:
“Yet anytime you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we are denounced as being against their humanitarian goals. They say we are always “against” things, never “for” anything.”
Aren’t we, even now, seeing this same story playing out in America’s national politics? Or how about this:
“Last February 19 at the University of Minnesota, Norman Thomas, six-time candidate for President on the Socialist Party ticket, said, “If Barry Goldwater became President, he would stop the advance of socialism in the United States.” I think that’s exactly what he will do.
As a former Democrat, I can tell you Norman Thomas isn’t the only man who has drawn this parallel to socialism with the present administration. Back in 1936, Mr. Democrat himself, Al Smith, the great American, came before the American people and charged that the leadership of his party was taking the part of Jefferson, Jackson, and Cleveland down the road under the banners of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. And he walked away from his party, and he never returned to the day he died, because to this day, the leadership of that party has been taking that party, that honorable party, down the road in the image of the labor socialist party of England. Now it doesn’t require expropriation or confiscation of private property or business to impose socialism on a people. What does it mean whether you hold the deed or the title to your business or property if the government holds the power of life and death over that business or property?”
It may not be in the top 35, but it is a speech worth reading.
brett you have a hard job to do defending every one of these speeches and i give you credit for it
@Brett: Great selection of speeches. Of course it will be somewhat biased in favor of Western orators, but even if those are not the 35 greatest speeches ever, it’s YOUR blog and YOUR prerogative to publish YOUR list!
To everyone who is being critical and self-righteous with their remarkable scope of cultural breadth and knowledge *yawn*, you’re wonderfully well-read and versed and we applaud you. There, is that what you wanted to hear? Seriously, if you didn’t make a valid suggestion or back up your attack with something other than smug and pompous vitriol, get a life. I defy you to come up with a more eclectic list and go to the effort of publishing it. Then come back and maybe we’ll listen. Also, look closer: MLK is included!
As for my own suggestion, someone mentioned a speech by Ataturk, but it was another (very short one) of his speeches that really caught my attention. On the 1934 memorial of the WWI Battle of Gallipoli, he spoke these words regarding the Australian and New Zealand forces who lost their lives in the battle:
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
MARTIN LUTHER KING???????????????
This post is bias, where is MARTIN LUTHER KING “I Have A Dream”. Every other site has stated that its the best speech of all times, but yet its not here because he is black. What a shame.
I Have A Dream, That One Day MLK Speech Will Be Posted Here!!!
Now that Joe, my neighbor, has made his state his opinion, I can use the computer (lol). I guess I will make a brief statement and say that you made great selections, however, you certainly left out Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. If we are judging based concerted on oratorical skills, those two should definitely be amongst the top 10 of the 35. Another individual that you excluded was Adolf Hitler. As I stated before, we may disagree with politics or even hate certain individuals, but based on oratorical skills he was near the top also. Thanks for listening.
As has been stated before, MLK is on there. MLK IS ON THE THIRD PAGE. THERE ARE 4 PAGES TO THIS POST. PLEASE READ THEM BEFORE COMMENTING!!!!!!
You mention speeches from the US but what about other countries in Australia we had a Prime Minister that gave an incredible speech looking to the US instead of Britian during World War 11 for protection from invasion, he died in office. Was honoured by General MacCarther.
Why isn’t Bush in this list? :)
Thanks for the great work! However, I expected atleast one of Obama’s speeches to have found its place in history! I guess you’re working on this!
Some people….. Last I checked, Brett and anyone he wished to be a contributor are those that are responsible for whatever message the AoM portrays. You are reading a list on a BLOG, people….. a blog that is biased towards its message. If you don’t like the name of the post, think about context – “The 35 Greatest Speeches in History,” by the AoM (which is another way of saying the 35 greatest speeches in history that exemplify manliness as defined from this website)..
Each one of the speeches not only meets the prerequisites outlined in the post, but also exemplify the virtues and characteristics (read as bias) of what this website is built around. Which is, after all – the point of the websites blog – providing real life examples of manliness. Last time I checked, the poster is the subject matter expert for his own website. It doesn’t make him the subject matter expert in manliness as whole, but it does as defined by his website, which everyone here is visiting.
If you do not agree, why are you not angered about posts “Bringing back the hat” because it doesn’t include turbans, berets, gigantic Roman Catholic bishop hats or yarmulke? It is because in those posts, you realize the context of the website. Manliness as defined by this website, which I don’t know if you realize it, but tends to be based around that of the hardworking American family man of the 40s, 50s and 60s with a dash of Victorian influences and the ideology reflected of those times.
The unfortunate circumstances of those also being times of civil rights strife are virtues that the poster does not promote, but based on the ideology – or even the mythos surrounding his target, it is easy to see why some postings are “Anglo-centric.” This is something the poster tries to make aware to all of us, and includes things as best he can from his perspective. As far as this website being “Ameri-centric,” the entire website is. And there is information that applies to America’s history that relates to different audiences. For instance, how Americans practiced courting, chivalry and politics in it’s early years were a direct reflection of its birth as English colonies. Other manly tasks were derived from age old work ethics and practices of the millions of immigrants from all over the Earth. So, the inspiration for this blog and website, while spanning cultures and timelines, is still “Anglo and Ameri-centric,” and should make no apologies for being so. Obviously something about it provokes your readership.
But next time, put some forethought into the context of your arguments before you make them. Or feel free to make your own website, hire thousands of philosophers and academics, have them pour over millions of speeches, and then feel free to publish “The 35 Greatest Speeches in World History………. as provided by this list of Academics and other Know-hards.” And your list will still be wrong because there is no way that everyone would ever come to that kind of agreement on so trivial an issue.
Take the point, read and listen to those speeches provided by the author, and if it moves you (whether emotionally, or to do your own research and find your own arguments), he has reached his goal. Your whining about it not being the best list is subjective at best and mars the reading of this website at worst.
Nice list. I will add, without a doubt Robert F. Kennedy’s speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (on scholarly lists of top American speeches). See text of speech below the video at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkonmlkdeath.html Especially of note what Razzbar mentioned of “Delivery, Content and Consequence”. The speech was delivered on short notice, and the consequence of it was said to have been a major contributing factor in that Indianapolis was one of the few/only major cities without a riot resulting from the assassination. Heartfelt and pure as any speech.
@Brett – maybe your next posting is about how a real man doesn’t whine about the works of others unless he is willing to layout his own work for public scrutiny.
For crying out loud people – it is Brett’s opinion on a blog. Not something that is engraved in stone tablets. Most of these people would have criticized JFK when he wrote Profiles in Courage because he didn’t include somebody from “insert country / ethnic group / political viewpoint here”
I will humbly add a speech from my own father, “Easy to criticize the player for dropping the pass from the comfort of your easy chair”
Glaring omission:
LIBERTY OR DEATH
Patrick Henry
Oops! Missed it. Stupid iPhone (user)!
Great list, & kudos for including the Frederick Douglass speech.
An amazing compilation!!!!
Steve Jobs’s Stanford Commencement speech (best of that decade)
Thank you fo displaying those speeches.But i thing u didn’t get enough information because there are other speeches which are great but u didn’t get interest to them.for instance RWAGASORE’s speech the burundian heroe of independence.Thomas SANKARA’s and so on.most speeches u talking about have been held in English except the one of charles De Gaule.next time you consider others held in other languages.
Yes, you have missed out “Tryst with Destiny” by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947. Sad indeed! Better rectify this unpardonable omission of one of the greatest speeches of all times.
A very well written piece providing very provocative discourse. I have only one suggestion…Charlie Chaplin’s character The Barber’s address from the film “The Great Dictator”. Fictional, I know…but a worthy addition I believe. For what is more manly than disregarding a commonly held stigma, and showing sensitivity, tolerance, and understanding…and yes even sensitivity. Traits I see repeated in many of these great and memorable orations.
RFK!!!! HE IS MISSING FROM THE LIST ROBERT F KENNEDY PLEASE
I’m sure MacArther did want to bomb Chinese bases during the Korean war…probably to cover his own heinous war crimes in agreeing not to prosecute Japan’s Unit 731 in exchange for what they learned performing live vivisections of Chinese men, women and children. The Nazi’s had one Joseph Mengele, but the Japanese had 2000 working in mainland China, committing torture of innocents on an unprecedented scale. MacArthur failed to prosecute even one for war crimes though he had full knowledge of what the Japanese did. Is that what a man does? No, I’m sorry, but that’s what a coward does. Some people might say that’s just part of war, and for those who people I have two words: Erwin Rommel. There can be dignity and humanity even in war, but let me assure you that MacArthur was not an example of it.
You have done a splendid job here. But did it in a one eyed manner. you ignored or may be you even don’t know about Muslim orator’s speeches. You could include Muhammad (pbuh) speeches and his companion’s they have really very rich history from where we can learn many things. knowledge is not confined within a race or group or nation rather its everywhere. So don’t be one eyed and go through the speeches of Muslim orators you will find many splendid speeches that created a different momentum in the history of world and helped this world to reach where it is now.
commendable effort. we should appreciate what has been done and not sit on judgement about what is missed out, for there could be as many suggestions as there are people expressing their opinion on this issue. it is bits of positive energy being generated to usher large constructive impact. thanks & regards.
Malcom X is great orator of de 20th century,
” I’m sorry. I don’t want to be an emperor, that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone.”
Please include the Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 Chicago speech AT WORLD PARLIAMENT OF RELIGION, CHICAGO.
THE BEST SPEECH EVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8MRaedvfUU
Please refer this speech
just like everything here as an aspiring leader in africa, i need more of good methods and good approach to speaches
This is a fantastic list! All of those listed have impacted the world in a great way and made this place better for all of us. However, one person on that list should not be there. Jesus Christ. The author chose for some reason to bring in a fictitious character from a book written thousands of years ago. I ask you, where are Zeus’s speeches? or Apollo’s. Maybe even bring Vishnu or Mirtha, or Horus’s speeches? The inclusion of Christ takes a lot of legitimacy and thoughtfulness out of the post.
It is important to understand the past in order to build the future. These speeches are quite interesting and strong lessons to facilitate decision making that take care of dignity, freedom and justice at home and everywhere.
Thank you so much for compiling this wonderful resource. I teach High School English and this is a tremendous collection to teach to my group of up-and-coming orators. Much appreciated.
Thank God for this site because it helping many people to do their resurch on great orators in the world.
To those concerned about MLK’s speech… It’s on the third page
This list is awesome .. speacially Chief Joseph
Where are Martin Luther King’s speech. I have a dream, the greatest speeches made by President Gbagbo, Gandhi’s speeches, Mandela’s. For sure I’m still hungry because the western world is too priviledged here.
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