SIX YEARS AGO, I devoted an essay in Civil War Times to how Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was received in 1863. I will now focus on the substance of what the president said, beginning with the admonition that sheer familiarity can conspire against serious consideration of his rumination on the meaning of the war.
Lincoln conveyed insights about the value and promise of the republic that struck a chord in 1863 and continue to resonate today. His words illuminate why the nation’s loyal citizenry believed they had a unique political system worth great sacrifice to preserve. Claims that the United States
