Ghettysburg Address
The Civil War was a time in America's history that remains bitter and controversial. American bullets pierced American hearts. American fathers killed American sons. Yet if it had not taken place, the United States of America would have been torn in two. Many say that the turning point of the war was the Battle of Gettysburg. Almost six thousand men lost their lives, and more than four times as many were wounded. The dedication ceremony was held at Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg, which had been, only months before, a bloodstained battlefield. Many heavy hearts must have trudged up the hill that day. Would all their hopes and dreams for the war end in a cemetery? Had the brave soldiers fought in vain? They had gained a victory, but were all the sacred lives worth the price? While these and other thoughts must have run thro
ugh the minds of the Americans present, Edward Everett spoke, and after a long speech, it was President Abraham Lincoln's turn to try to console the crowd and dedicate the field. One way that I can perpetuate the American dream is by refusing to be ignorant of America's past. Lincoln then, in minutes, summarized the reason for the American Civil War in his now famous Gettysburg Address. It was being fought to determine whether a freedom loving country would- or could -survive. Although remembering the darker parts of America's past is difficult, it can prevent us from making the same mistakes again. I can refuse to discriminate, refuse to be discriminated against, and I can refuse to forget the cost of America's freedom. Let us not forget children slaving in mines for little or no pay, men and women beaten and owned because of their skin color, and Native Americans forced off their rightful land. Though Lincoln finished his speech long ago, I believe it still lives on, and that we still have the challenge he presented that momentous day. Their dreams were not hopeless; the war was not being fought in vain. However, it already had been dedicated by the brave fight for America's future that had taken place there in the Battle of Gettysburg. Many children have memorized the Gettysburg Address and have studied President Lincoln. I will help to keep America the way it was and always should be- a nation abiding under God's protection and laws, unified, and forever free. They have the address recorded in their minds, but have they written it on their hearts? President Lincoln did not just want America to survive, but to thrive as a land of freedom under God. We as Americans must never forget how a speech made years ago still so prominently applies to us today. It was, as Lincoln said, "fitting and proper" to dedicate the battlefield.
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