GettysBlog

November 19, 1863

On this date 145 years ago, Abraham Lincoln delivered the speech that has come to be known as the Gettysburg Address.

In recent interviews, President-elect Barack Obama, has stated that one of the things that he is doing in preparation for his presidency is to reread Lincoln's writings. Let us pause on this historic anniversary and read Lincoln's 272 word speech again.

Full text of Cornell's Bancroft Copy of the Gettysburg Address.

Reading of the Gettysburg Address from Ken Burn's film, The Civil War:

We live in historic times. Let us hope that this nation shall now finally have Lincoln's "new birth of freedom."

2008 Reading Project Essay Contest Winners

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Michele Moody-Adams is pleased to announce the winners in this year's New Student Reading Project Essay Contest. Class of 2012 students were sent 10 study questions along with their copy of Lincoln at Gettysburg last summer and asked to complete a short essay based on one of these questions.

Each of the 10 contest winners will receive a $200 gift certificate from The Cornell Store. The 5 students who earned Honorable Mention will each receive a $50 gift certificate.

Read their winning essays.

Congratulations to all of our winning readers and writers.

Now to wait and see what next year's book will be.  Keep reading!

Get Linc'ed at the Tatkon Center

President Skorton will kickoff Cornell's student voter registration drive tomorrow afternoon, September 6, at 4:30 p.m. at the Balch Courtyard Terrace (rain location Carol Tatkon Center Room 3330). He will read the Gettysburg Address and talk about the power of words to change our world.

Check out all of the events happening this month at the Tatkon Center.

Lincoln and You

Now that we've read the book (or most of it), gathered as a large group in Barton Hall to hear our Cornell scholars' informed opinions, met in small groups to discuss Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address, and turned in our essays, what's left to do?

Several students in my discussion group mentioned that they would be giving their copies of Lincoln at Gettysburg to their fathers to read, noting their parent's interests in Lincoln and Civil War history. Sharing a good book is what the Reading Project is all about.

If you have not already done so, please treat yourself to a visit to Kroch Library this week to see Cornell's copy of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting, which will be on public display for the rest of this week.

And check out the Reading Project-related exhibits on campus this month.  Reaching For Equality is on display at the Tatkon Center. (It is also available online as an interactive digital guide. Send us your thoughts and comments.)  Downstairs in Olin Library you will find a display, Mapping the Many Paths to the Address, in the Media Center.

Don't forget that our author, Garry Wills, will be here on September 17th to give a talk on the Lincoln Douglas Debates.

Most importantly, on September 6, President Skorton will read the Gettysburg Address in the Balch Courtyard Terrace at 4:30 p.m. to kickoff our campus voter registration drive. If you are 18 and a United States citizen, you need to participate in the democratic process.  You ARE the people that Lincoln is speaking of at the end of his address: "government of the people, by the people, for the people." 

Register and Vote!

The power to "remake" the world?

The old adage that "the pen is mightier than the sword" may be difficult to accept as we observe all the armed conflicts around the globe at the moment.  But you don't need to believe in the superior power of the pen to consider the possibility, as Wills puts it, that words are sometimes necessary "to complete the work of the guns." Yet how is it that words get their power?  To answer this question, if Wills is right, we must delve into the origins of "linguistic might," and we should expect that the more powerful the words in question, the more complex their origins are likely to be.  Wills leads us on a dense and sometimes complicated exploration of the literary, religious, philosophical, and socio-political roots of the Gettysburg Address.  In addition, his own language occasionally requires us to pick up a dictionary.  But if we stick with him, we can come to a deeper understanding of how 272 words helped to bring to completion what the massive death and destruction of the battle of Gettysburg (and indeed the American Civil War as a whole) could not do alone.

Does the power of words have anything to do with the greatness of political leaders?  We may not think so, especially if we believe that the careers of great leaders are best defined by the decisions they make and by actions they take in light of those decisions.  But what if the full measure of some political greatness will escape us until we understand the role that language and rhetoric might play in decision and action?  Wills has been influential in making the case that this is a reasonable assumption to bring to reflection on Lincoln's career and legacy.  But over the course of his career, Wills has extended this approach to discussions of the broader importance of language and its uses in political contexts.  You may find it interesting to look at a May 2008 article entitled "Two Speeches on Race," in which Wills makes some provocative comparisons between presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech on race and one of Lincoln's speeches delivered in the months before he won the presidency.  Whatever you might make of these comparisons, it is important to ask whether Wills's views in Lincoln at Gettysburg might help us reflect on the sources, power, and value of contemporary political language in the broadest sense.

Finally, why should you be interested in Wills's discussion of the Gettysburg Address if you are either not a citizen (naturalized or native) of the United States, or if you are perhaps an American citizen who is impatient with those who fail to focus on questions of global importance?   Well, if Wills is right, the power of Lincoln's words was partly a function of his conviction that America's national purpose was rooted in ideals of equality and democracy that have value for all human beings.  Consider, too, that Lincoln's words influenced the labor movement in nineteenth century Germany and political movements in mid-twentieth century India, and they resonate in the language of twenty-first century defenders of human rights around the globe. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru kept a cast of Lincoln's hand on his desk, along with a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, to remind himself to combine Gandhi's compassion with Lincoln's capacity for strength and unity.  A 2007 conference on Lincoln focused on his relevance as "A Humanitarian as Broad as the World," and an international conference to celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in 2009 will be entitled "Lincoln Without Borders."   Might this long-standing global interest in Lincoln suggest that his words have the power not only to remake America, but to help remake the world?

During New Student Orientation, on the day before the small group discussions, three distinguished Cornell faculty members will help us understand the power of Lincoln's words:  Professor Edward Baptist of the history department will deliver a talk entitled "A Nation Not Like Any Other Nations," Cornell President Emeritus and Professor of Classics Hunter Rawlings will talk to us about "Lincoln and the Athenian Tradition of State Funeral Orations," and Professor Tad Brennan of the philosophy department will deliver a talk entitled "Any Nation So Conceived."   

This faculty panel discussion will be held from 3:30 to 5:00 on Sunday August 24, 2008 in Barton Hall.  I look forward to seeing you there and then to learning more about your approach to Lincoln in the essays you will submit during the small group discussions on Monday August 25.

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education,  Michele Moody-Adams

Creating Equality

Flying home yesterday I spotted these t-shirts in the Denver airport. This city will be hosting the Democratic National Convention later this month and you can feel the politics in the hot, dry air out there. No, this is not a political endorsement. I want to focus on the words printed on these shirts. They come from Barack Obama's speech on race from March 18, 2008:

"This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.”

Obviously, Obama is referring to the opening lines of the U.S. Constitution:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

But Obama is also referring to the unfinished work Lincoln presents in the Gettysburg Address, which is itself referring back to the self-evident truths of the American Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal." As Garry Wills states on page 146-147 of our book:

"The Gettysburg Address has become an authoritative expression of the American spirit--as authoritative as the Declaration of Independence itself, and perhaps even more influential, since it determines how we read the Declaration. For most people now, the Declaration means what Lincoln told us it means, as a way of correcting the Constitution itself without overthrowing it."

These four texts--the Declaration, the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and the Obama speech--track the progress that we have made in turning rhetoric into action, and in creating a nation where all people are indeed created equal.

We also need to remember that that other senator from Illinois, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, was about to launch his campaign for re-election when he gave his speech in Gettysburg.  I wonder if there were any t-shirts for sale at the train station there?

Is the Gettysburg Address funny?

We have been reading and discussing so many serious and somber subjects this summer--death, war, funeral orations, cemeteries, rhetoric, and philosophy--that I thought it was about time to lighten things up a bit. The Gettysburg Address is serious and somber, but it is also an icon of popular culture and as such it is sometimes treated as a target of satirical humor.

Let's try to imagine Lincoln giving his speech in the era of the 24 hour news cycle. Barack Obama's speech on race back in March set the news pundits and punsters in action and many allusions to Lincoln were made. See what you think of If Ann Coulter had liveblogged the Gettysburg Address and also The Daily Show with John Stewart's: The Dialogue Begins. (The Gettysburg segment is towards the end of this clip.)

Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address have appeared on The Daily Show before. Back in 2001, there was this "newly discovered" tape of Lincoln rehearsing this speech.

On the web you can find The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation and Bob Newhart's Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Ave routine. There is also Lord Buckley's jazz speak poem version of the Gettysburg Address. (Full text lyrics of the performance.)

We must also remember that Lincoln was known for his sense of humor and personality. See Lincoln's Humor for a sampling of his wit.

I leave you today with the late great comic, George Carlin, and his routine, "We Like War." Carlin was a connoisseur of words. Here he offers some very interesting perspectives on the American Revolution and the Civil War. (Please be advised that Mr. Carlin does use some of the words that made him famous and that cannot be said on television.)

Bancroft Copy of the Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln wrote out five copies of the Gettysburg Address in his beautifully clear and legible handwriting. Garry Wills describes each of these manuscripts and traces the changes in their wording--and changes in the meaning of their wording--in Appendix I of our book. What he does not tell you is that the fourth copy of the speech, the Bancroft Copy, is owned by Cornell University.

The historian and statesman George Bancroft had requested a copy of the speech for use in a fund-raising publication to benefit Union soldiers, but the text that Lincoln supplied him was written on both sides of the paper and could not be used to make a lithograph for the printing process. A second request was made and that copy of the speech, now known as the Bliss Copy, resides in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. 

Bancroft kept the first copy and it remained in his family until his grandson, Cornell University professor Wilder D. Bancroft, sold it in 1929. It was sold again in 1935 to Nicholas H. and Marguerite Lilly Noyes, who presented it to Cornell in 1949.

The Cornell University Library will publicly display the Bancroft Copy of the Gettysburg Address in the Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, Carl A. Kroch Library, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. between Monday, August 25th and Friday, August 29^th.

See also our online Annotated Gettysburg Address.

[Image: Autograph Letter Signed by Abraham Lincoln to George Bancroft. Washington D.C., Februrary 29, 1864. Cornell University]

What is a good book?

Each of us will answer differently, but for me a good book is one that leads me to another book. Or better yet, other books: on the same topics, by the same author, or even something completely different.

Our reading of Lincoln at Gettysburg has left me curious to learn more about Lincoln, his speeches, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War, etc. And so began my serendipitous summer reading saga.

As I was reading our book earlier this year, I began to search for some book reviews about it, and then looked up some Lincoln articles by Garry Wills. These led me to the texts of other Lincoln speeches, especially his Cooper Union speech and his Second Inaugural. (Treat yourself to more of Lincoln's writing. I think you will find yourself in awe of our most literate president.)

Then I picked up the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels. (Some fiction for Wendy!) You will not find a more compelling historical novel. But I also wanted to know more about the details of the battle, so I read James McPherson's Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg,which left me wanting to return to Gettysburg and follow his tour word-by-word and step-by-step.

Presently I am reading Gabor Boritt's The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech That Nobody Knows. If by chance you want to learn even more about the Gettysburg Address--perhaps everything there is to learn about it--then this elaborately detailed study of the events surrounding Lincoln's speech is the book for you. For instance, in our book we are told that Lincoln wisely traveled by train to Gettysburg a day earlier than originally planned. Boritt puts us on that train and gives us details about this trip:  a description of the special, elegant train cars supplied by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, a listing of the important politicians and journalists on board, and the politics of this trip. Was this speech the first campaign event in Lincoln's run for re-election? I found it interesting to note that Edward Everett's daughter, Charlotte Wise, was likely the only woman on this train and that the President's valet, William H. Johnson, may have been the only African American traveling in this entourage.

And then there is the Lincoln poetry. Does anyone read poetry anymore? I'm not sure I will make it all the way through Stephen Vincent Benet's epic poem of the Civil War, John Brown's Body (another Pulitzer Prize winning work), but I will certainly be rereading Walt Whitman's homage to Lincoln: "Oh Captain, My Captain."

Will there be time to indulge in Doris Kearns Goodwin's mammoth group biography of Lincoln and his Cabinet members, A Team of Rivals?

Who is Edward Everett?

Although my own remarks at the dedication of Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA were a mere three minutes long, my contemporary, Edward Everett, played a more prominent role in the dedication ceremony by giving the Oration.  His speech "connected the heroic struggle for freedom in the classical and modern worlds with the valor and sacrifice demonstrated on America's battlefields. He justified the Union cause and predicted that the North and South would eventually reconcile, leading to a restored and stronger Union."  Read the entire oration here.

Everett had an illustrious political career as a US Congressman, Governor of Massachusetts, and Secretary of State for President Millard Fillmore.  He also served as Harvard's president from 1846 to 1849 (although he was rather unpopular with the students; they coined him "Old Granny" in reference to his displeasure over the undisciplined nature of the students).  Read his biography from the Harvard Square Library.

Everett was a gracious colleague.  Following my remarks at Gettysburg, he sent me a quick note praising the "eloquent simplicity and appropriateness" of my words.  View a copy of the letter here as part of the American Treasures at The Library of Congress.

Unfortunately, Everett's words were eclipsed by my remarks on that day of dedication.  However, his gift of oration will never be truly forgotten.