The Meaning of the Gettysburg Address in Our Time

 All agree that the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, delivered on this day, November 19, in 1863, was one of the most inspiring speeches ever given.

Everyone remembers the start --- four score and seven years ago --- and the end --- of the people by the people for the people --- but that is not necessarily the most meaningful part of the speech for us in our time.

The keys to the speech are near the beginning and the end.

"... our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

and

"we here highly resolve 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."