The Gettysburg Address was a document that shaped American past and present. Abraham Lincoln delivered the speech in just three and a half minutes using a mere two hundred and seventy two words. Though short, the speech resulted in many things. The Gettysburg Address was the speech that led to the passage of the 14th amendment, was a means of justification for using the Declaration of Independence as law of the land as opposed to the Constitution and created a louder voice for antislavery advocates, past and future.
The Gettysburg Address was a speech by Abraham Lincoln, delivered November 19, 1863. The speech was made at the site of the Cemetery of Gettysburg. This was the site where many men died because a nation was divided at the time. The primary division was the issue of slavery. The North felt that slavery was a moral issue, that the enslavement of other human beings was wrong and needed to be abolished. The Southern states, which were far behind the industrialized North, desperately needed the slave to keep the economy of the South going and not fall into a depression. Early in Lincoln's administration, he did not take a stance on slavery stating:.
"I declare that I have no purpose directly or indirectly, interfere with the institution of slavery where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.".
Though at the time he didn't take a stance on slavery, the Gettysburg Address would forever change his stance, and the opinions of many others.
Though the speech is famed to be the speech that led to the 14th amendment, the abolition of slavery, the speech never mentions the word slavery at any given time. The distinct line in the speech where Lincoln addresses the issue of slavery is:.
"Fourscore 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.