The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863+0-3) completely changed the town of Gettysburg. On the battlefield, the Federal Potomac Corps and the Confederate Northern Virginia Corps left behind the remains of more than 7,000 soldiers and the bones of thousands of war horses. It has become a top priority for thousands of local residents to bury the dead in a solemn and orderly manner. The stench of rotting corpses made many small town residents ill within a week after the war. Finally, under the direction of 32-year-old prosecutor David Wills, Pennsylvania purchased 17 acres (69,000 square meters) of land as the burial ground for these heroes who died in the scorching sun.
Wells originally planned to hold the cemetery inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, September 23rd (1863), and invited william henry seward, then Secretary of State, several federal representatives, the governor of Massachusetts and the president of Harvard University as keynote speakers. Everett is the most famous orator in China, and his reputation spread far and wide. He replied to Wells and the funeral committee. Due to time constraints, he could not prepare a suitable speech and asked to postpone the date. With the consent of the organizing committee, the opening ceremony was postponed to Thursday. 165438+ 10/9.
Wells and the funeral committee almost remembered inviting Lincoln to the unveiling ceremony. Wells wrote in the letter,' Dare to condescend, and after the speech, with the respect of the chief executive of the country, give appropriate short comments, so that this place will be treated with sacredness and dignity because of its official treatment.' Lincoln ranked second in the order of speeches, similar to the tradition of inviting VIPs to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.
Lincoln arrived at Gettysburg by train on165438+1October1August, and stayed at Wells residence in Gettysburg Town Square that night, putting the finishing touches on his speech in Washington. Unlike street legends, Lincoln neither prepared a speech on the train nor wrote it on the back of an envelope. 165438+1October 19 at 9:30 am, Lincoln rode a chestnut horse and joined a long line of dignitaries, ordinary people and military widows, sandwiched between Secretary of State William Henry Seward and Treasury Secretary salmon portland chase.
It is estimated that about15,000 to 20,000 people attended the ceremony. Participants included six governors from 24 federal states: Andrew Gregg Curtin, Pennsylvania; Augustus Bradford, Maryland; Oliver P Morton, Indiana; horatio seymour, New York; Joel Parker, New Jersey; and Governor of Ohio. [6] The exact order of appearance is still controversial. [7] The work of digging out the bodies buried in the battlefield graves and burying them in the cemetery began within a few months after the battle, and less than half of them were completed on the opening day.
-1863165438+10 month 19 Abraham? Lincoln unveiled at Gettysburg National Cemetery.
From 65438 to 0863, the American Civil War entered its third year. Although the North never won any decisive victory on the battlefield, the South (calling itself "America") seems to have lost the whole war. On the altar of offering fresh life to Mars, the south seems to be bleeding. Compared with the north with a population of 22 million, only 6% of the troops mobilized during the war were conscripts (the rest were volunteers), and they had to rely on the military service law. The south has long stipulated that whites aged 65,438+08 to 35 have the obligation to perform military service. In the end, 300,000 soldiers were recruited through the military service law, accounting for one third of the total number of the Southern Army ("Allied Forces"). For the south with a total population of only 5.5 million whites, young and middle-aged soldiers have almost swept out of the house-there are 4 million blacks in the south, but they are not only unable to serve as soldiers, but also the targets of the southern militia. However, the backward industry in the south aggravated the disadvantage of the army. Before the war, the industrial base in the south was extremely weak, lacking rolling mills, blast furnaces and arsenals. Although the newly-built Richmond Arsenal was able to produce 60,000 rifles every year after the start of the war, the South was still plagued by the shortage of ordnance and ammunition throughout the war. On the contrary, the Union Army (Union Army), which suffered repeated defeats and lost its armor, never worried about the shortage of firearms: during the war, only the North State-owned Arsenal produced 6.5438+0.7 million rifles. In the competition of production capacity, the north has an advantage.
However, the South paid a price for the unique agricultural production mode of cotton. As early as the spring of 1862, there was a shortage of flour and meat in the south. The authorities had to force one-tenth of each farmer's products, which caused strong protests. 1in the spring of 863, there was a crisis in the supply of the Yugoslav army. When the rows of transport ships moored at the Acchia River pier were unloading the supplies needed by130,000 Union soldiers and 60,000 mules and horses, the Confederate troops on the other side were already skinny because of lack of food. Scurvy began to appear in the army because of insufficient rations and malnutrition. The edible cattle shipped up are too thin, so they can only be "fattened in spring and slaughtered, and only salted meat is rationed for the time being". A Tennessee man wrote, "1In the spring of 863, I spent two days in a cavalry brigade of the Allied Forces. Their food is single flour and beef, nothing else.
Similarly, relying on the strong economic ability behind them, the soldiers of the Union Army during the Civil War have shown the image of "young soldiers" widely known by the world in the next century, and the situation that the soldiers of the Continental Army were naked and hungry during the War of Independence has long since ceased to exist. Federal soldiers can get 12 ounces of pork or ham, or 20 ounces of fresh beef or salted beef every day; 18 ounces of bread or flour, or 12 ounces of hard bread or 20 ounces of grain, and a lot of sugar, coffee and salt. In order to ensure the supply of fresh meat, cattle often follow the troops. The supply of troops is not only abundant, but even wasteful, Owen? Major-General mcdowell once laughed at himself, "We wasted enough materials and equipment to supply half of our French army". The ceremony arranged by Wells and the funeral committee on that day is as follows:
Music-Burchfield's Band
Prayer-Reverend Dr. stockton
Music-Navy Band
Speech-H.E. edward everett
Music-hymns by B. B. France, sir) by Your Excellency France.
Speech-President of the United States of America
Elegy-sung by the choir chosen for this moment
Bless the reverend H.L. Baugher
It was not President Lincoln's short speech that was regarded as the "Gettysburg Address" that day, but Everett's two-hour speech. Everett's 13609 speech, which is rarely heard today, begins with:
Standing under this clear sky, overlooking the fields, the hard work of the past years is quiet, the great Altun Mountain stands tall and hidden in the waiting room, and the resting place of comrades is at your feet; I hesitate to break the touching silence of heaven with my humble voice. However, under your call, you are duty-bound-you should pray for your compassion. "
"Standing under this quiet sky overlooking this vast field, these fields are now lying in the past year's work. The majestic Allegheny Mountains stand in front of us dimly, and at our feet are the graves of our compatriots. I hesitate to raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and nature. But the responsibility you called me must be fulfilled; I beg you, give me your tolerance and sympathy. "
Two hours later, this is the end:
But I firmly believe that it will sing with us and dedicate the remains of martyrs: exploring the civilized world. From the great achievements of this battle to the end of the history of faith, there is no more brilliant page in the glorious history of our country than the Battle of Gettysburg. '
"However, I believe that when we bid farewell to the dust of these martyrs and heroes, they will say with us that no matter where in the civilized world we read the reports about this great war, until the recent recorded period, there was no more glorious page in the glorious history of our common country than the Battle of Gettysburg." The original material of another speech at that time was the cable service broadcast of the Associated Press, which was transferred from the speedometer notes of journalist Joseph L Gilbert. It is also different from the draft text in some small places.
For Lincoln's performance at that time, the reports of witnesses at the scene were also mixed. 193 1 Mrs Sarah a Myers, 87, attended the unveiling ceremony at the age of 19. She said that after Lincoln's speech, the scene was solemn and silent: "I was close to the president and listened to the whole speech, but it seemed too short." Then there was an impressive silence, similar to our menaren scholarship. There was no applause after he finished. " According to the historian Shelby Foote, after Lincoln's speech, the applause was hesitant, chaotic and "perfunctory". [In contrast, Pennsylvania Governor Codin bluntly said: "He delivered a speech in a clear and audible voice, and the audience fell silent because the president stood in front of him ...' admirable!' It is the unanimous evaluation of everyone. As they say, what a wonderful speech! "
Lincoln later received a letter from Everett the next day, praising the president's concise and convincing speech. He wrote: "If I can be satisfied with my main idea of getting close to the ceremony in two hours, as you revealed in two minutes, I should be very lucky." Lincoln was glad that the speech was not a complete failure.
Other public reactions to the speech were divided by party views. The Chicago Sun Times reported the next day: "This man, called the president of the United States by a thoughtful foreigner, has a boring, dull and broken tone. You Americans will blush when you read it in this tone. "
Lincoln himself, with the passage of time, revised his views on My Little Speech. Lincoln used the word "country" five times, but he didn't use the word "federation". At that time, the word only referred to the north-moreover, the restoration of "country" was supreme, not the federation of sovereign countries. Lincoln's words refer to the American War of Independence from 65438 to 0776, and contain well-known words in the American Declaration of Independence, such as "All men are created equal".
Lincoln did not mention the American Constitution of 1789. A three-fifths compromise in the Constitution means acknowledging slavery. He also did not mention various political disputes in the pre-civil war period, such as refusing to implement federal regulations (void, the state government abolished the federal regulations, and went its own way) or state rights (that is, claiming that the United States Federation is a collection of sovereign States, and the president is an agent appointed by state committees and has no right to intervene in major state affairs such as slavery).
Gary Wells said in Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Discourse of Rebuilding America that this speech was influenced by the American Greek Renaissance and the traditional funeral speeches in Athens, as well as the transcendentalism in monotheism (there is only one God, not the Trinity). Epiphany) and abolitionist Odor Parker (the founder of the epigram "All people, by all people, for all people"), and daniel webster's views on the Constitution.
The writer and civil war scholar James mcpherson's comments on Wells' works are based on Thucydides' description of Perikles's funeral speech during the Peloponnesian War, and some features are compared with Lincoln's speech. Perikles's speech, like Lincoln's, began with a tribute to the respectable ancestors: "I must start with my ancestors: those who are right and appropriate, if they are so great today, they should be honored." ("I will start with our ancestors: on an occasion like this, they should have the honor mentioned for the first time, which is just and proper"); Then, he praised the unique commitment of the Republic of China to democracy: "If we count on laws, they are related to equality and justice for all people in private differences" and respected the sacrifice of the deceased: "So I would rather refuse to die. Those who were born without humiliation were greatly humiliated and took risks "(so they chose to resist and die instead of giving in, they just escaped humiliation, but faced danger directly); And advise the living to continue to struggle:' You, your legacy, must enter the battlefield with unshakable ideological determination, and you can pray for appropriate disputes. ("You, their survivors, must decide to have a firm determination in this field, although you may pray that it may have a happier problem." )
Craig R. Smith also said in Critique of Political Rhetoric and Discipline Integrity that Webster's famous speech influenced Lincoln's interpretation of government views in his Gettysburg address, especially Webster's second reply to Heine. He wrote in the letter: "dear sir, this government is the product of public volunteers, not the product of the state legislature." More importantly, if it is necessary to express the whole truth, to make it a reality, to establish it and to support it to this day, and to this end, together with other things, to have a bold and clear ambition and strongly limit the supreme sovereignty over the country. ("Sir, this government is an independent product of public opinion. It is not a product of the state legislature; No, more importantly, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and supported it so far, with the aim of, among other things, imposing some beneficial restrictions on national sovereignty. ")
People noticed that Lincoln used the metaphor of birth, survival and extinction to describe China's birth, gestation and extinction. In addition, the writer Allen C. Guelzo once said that Lincoln's formulaic expression "four scores and seven" came indirectly from King James' version of the Bible (Psalm 90). The expression of longevity in the Bible is similar to "three and ten".
The writer H.L. Mencken criticized what he thought was the Lincoln Center. Lincoln thought that the soldiers in Gettysburg "died for the cause of self-determination". Manken concluded: "It's hard to imagine anything more fake. The union soldiers in this battle are actually opposed to self-determination; It was the Confederate army that fought for the people's autonomy.
On 2013165438+10/9, about 10,000 people from all over the United States gathered at the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address/kloc-0. After being well received by the audience, Lincoln spoke in his sharp Kentucky accent for two to three minutes. Lincoln's "A Brief Comment on Appropriateness" briefly describes the Civil War with 272 words in 10 sentence, and recalls the role of the state in this arduous war and its influence on this concept: the sacrifice of soldiers killed in Gettysburg was in vain, regardless of the union army or the confederate army. The speech began 87 years ago, talking about the American War of Independence and the famous Declaration of Independence, pointing out that the desperate struggle of the people is to ensure that the government of the people, by the people and for the people will not wither. Interestingly, although this speech is famous in history, its exact wording has always been controversial. There are five versions of the known * * *, and historians have been arguing about subtle historical facts.
Although this speech is famous in history, today's scholars have different views on its true wording; At that time, according to the recorded news reports, even several manuscripts of Lincoln himself were different in wording, punctuation and structure. In many versions, "Blissful Copy" has become the standard version. This is the only version signed by Lincoln and the last version written by Lincoln: Eighty-seven years ago, our ancestors founded a new country on this continent, which was conceived in freedom and pursued the principle that all men are created equal.
Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether this country, or any country that was born here and pursues this road, can exist for a long time. We met on a great battlefield of that war. We are here to dedicate a part of it as the final resting place for those who died here, for the survival of this country. We can totally do this. However, in a broader sense, we can't dedicate-we can't consecrate-we can't deify this land-the warriors who fought here, living and dead, have deified it, which is far from our meager strength to increase or decrease. The world will not pay attention to, nor will it remember what we say here for a long time; It will never forget what they have done here.
On the contrary, we living people should stand here, and we should devote ourselves to the great task before us-we get more dedication from these glorious dead, who have given their final efforts to this cause here-and we are determined here that these dead will not die in vain; This country will be reborn in freedom, and this government of the people, by the people and for the people will never disappear from the earth.
Eighty-seven years ago, our ancestors gave birth to a new type of republic on this continent. She conceived the idea of freedom and devoted herself to the ideal that all men are created equal.
Now we have launched a major civil war to test whether this Republic, or any Republic conceived in freedom and committed to the above ideals, can last for a long time. We are gathered on an important battlefield of this war. The martyrs gave their lives for the survival of this country. We are here to dedicate a part of this battlefield to them as a final resting place. It is entirely appropriate and appropriate for us to do so. However, in a broader sense, we cannot dedicate, deify or deify this land. Those brave men who fought here, living and dead, have consecrated this land, which is far beyond our meager strength.
What we say here today will not be noticed by the whole world, nor will it be remembered for a long time, but what the brave men did here will never be forgotten by the whole world. On the contrary, those of us who are still alive should devote ourselves here to the unfinished business that the warriors have so nobly advanced. On the contrary, we should devote ourselves to the great task still before us here-we should draw more dedication from these glorious dead to complete the cause to which they have devoted themselves completely and thoroughly; We must make the greatest determination here and not let these dead people die in vain; With God's blessing, we will give the Republic a new life and make this government of the people, by the people and for the people last forever.