"Four score and seven years ago...." Gettysburg, Pa, Monday, June 20th, 2011

"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."  The Gettysburg address- 272 words and less than 2 minutes for Lincoln to deliver it.  

George Washington warned of the division that political parties could play in tearing our country apart and the Civil War is an example of just this.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union Army Major General  Joseph Hooker met by chance in Pennsylvania farmland fields.  Three days of fighting ensued beginning July 1st, 1863.  More men died here than in any other battle in North America before or since. Fifty one thousand soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in this battle. 

 Many of the union soldiers who died in Gettysburg are buried in Soilders' National Cemetery where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address., a masterpiece of English language.  He transformed Gettysburg from a brutal scene of death into a symbol, giving meaning to the sacrifice of the dead and a meaning to the living in preserving the union.

Contrary to popular belief Lincoln did not write the speech on the back of an envelope in route to Gettysburg.  He began his composition in Washington and continued to revise it, even as last as the night before the speech.

Lincoln was asked to make "a few appropriate remarks".  His speech followed the main speakers', Edward Everett, who delivered a well received two hour talk full of historical detail and classical allusion.  Everett told Lincoln, "I should be glad, if I...came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." 

Short, sweet, and to the point often does the trick!!!!

At the Gettysburg National Military Park there is a Visitor's Center and a Museum.    You can view the film "We are Met on a Great Battlefield," and observe the "Battle of Gettysburg" cyclorama painted and created by Paul Philippoteaux in 11 short months after he carefully researched the battle and talked with survivors.  It takes a 50 foot wooden spool to wrap up and transport the painting.  The painting is 360 degrees,  377 feet and was completed in 1884.

"The "Cyclorama" was a very popular form of entertainment in the late 1800's, both in America and Europe. These massive oil-on-canvas paintings were displayed in special auditoriums and enhanced with landscaped foregrounds sometimes featuring trees, grasses, fences and even life-sized figures. The result was a three-dimensional effect that surrounded the viewers who stood on a central platform, literally placing them in the center of the great historic scene. Most cycloramas depicted dramatic events such as great battles, religious epics, or scenes from great works of literature. Hundreds were painted and exhibited in Europe and America during the 1800's, yet most were lost or destroyed as their popularity died out with the introduction of a more entertaining art form, motion pictures."  http://www.nps.gov/gett/historyculture/gettysburg-cyclorama.htm

Information also based on:  "The Official Guide to America's National Parks, 13th edition and the National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior brochure created for Gettysburg National Military Park.