The Gettysburg Address

In Abraham Lincoln’s dedication of the ground where the Battle of Gettysburg, “The Gettysburg Address”, he makes a very inspirational statement when he says, “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground.”(Lincoln) He goes on to say that the men who have fought in that battle, both living and dead, have already dedicated that ground. Lincoln says they are there to remember what those men had done for us, they are the ones who have made Gettysburg hallowed ground. He says, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they (the soldiers) did here.”(Lincoln) First, that is ironic considering the fact that the Gettysburg Address is such a well known work. Lincoln is saying that the reason that battle ground is hallowed and dedicated to what that battle represented is because of the men who fought and died there. It is because of what they have done that we remember so vividly what happened there. Lincoln’s philosophy is that what man has done is what makes someplace special and hallowed. Abraham Lincoln also says, “this nation, under God”(Lincoln). Lincoln is giving reverence to God and saying that no one is above him. Our nation is what it is because of God he controls it and we are under God’s reign.

Emerson takes a different approach. In one of his most famous works, “Nature”, he says that nature itself is what makes a place hallowed ,or holy, if you will. Emerson writes, “Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign”(Emerson 192). He says that men tarnish its grandeur. Emerson writes, “The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.”(Emerson 192) He believes that because the people do not hold nature in such a high regard, it becomes less beautiful for them. Contrary to what Lincoln said Emerson writes, “the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part, or parcel of God.”(Emerson 192) Where Lincoln says that we are under God, Emerson believes that he is part of God. Emerson is saying that he is equal to God, and that nature itself is more beautiful and powerful then God.

Emerson, R. Waldo. "From Nature." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.