He would jot down his musings onto scraps of paper and put them in his hat to develop at another time. Lincoln would mumble to himself, turning a phrase over and over in his head. Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, noted that Lincoln could often be found reading in their law office, stretched out on the leather sofa with his long legs hanging over the edge. His identity as a writer and speaker began to grow. Over time, Lincoln developed a plain style of delivery that was characterized by a sharp logical edge, an economy of words, and a beautiful rhythm and cadence that blended poetry and mathematical precision. The courtroom also afforded Lincoln an arena to craft his words and arguments to persuade juries and match wits with competing attorneys. The future president chose the law as a career, a field that helped sharpen his ability to think logically and develop a clear line of reasoning.

He enjoyed composing doggerel for friends, engaged in storytelling, and joined a debating society. Lincoln’s appreciation of language was displayed in several of the activities he participated in as a young man. These works stimulated his reflections on the human condition and moral principles. Poets John Milton, Robert Burns, and Alexander Pope, the plays of Shakespeare, and above all, the King James Bible, shaped his love of words and language. He studied volumes of grammar and elocution to sharpen his thinking and writing. He read Parson Weems’ biographies of George Washington and other Founders. He devoured classic novels and anthologies of ancient and American speeches. In fact, his father scolded him several times for reading instead of completing his chores. When growing up, Lincoln had scant formal schooling, but he made up for this by voraciously reading anything he could get his hands on. Despite these concerns, Lincoln agreed to deliver a speech in Gettysburg to commemorate the war dead that would be interred there. Those deaths weighed heavily on Lincoln, as did the burdens of his office.

At the Battle of Gettysburg alone there were more than 51,000 American casualties between the North and South. The Civil War raged on, producing massive amounts of deaths. In the late autumn of 1863, President Lincoln faced many public and personal crises. President Abraham Lincoln accepted an invitation to speak at the event, where he offered a reflection on the battle, the greater war, and principles that continue to shape American ideals to this day. To provide a final resting place for many of these honored dead, a new cemetery was created in Gettysburg and dedicated in November of 1863, only four months after the battle. Both brought victories for the Union, but at immense costs. In July of that year, Union and Confederate armies clashed at a sleepy Pennsylvania town named Gettysburg, as well as out west at the Mississippi River port of Vicksburg. That document freed slaves in states then in rebellion.ĭespite the Union gaining the moral advantage after the issuance of the Proclamation, the bloody war raged on into 1863. While the American Civil War began in April 1861 - with the first shots fired at Fort Sumter - it was in September 1862, after the battle of Antietam, that President Abraham Lincoln finally believed he had the victory he needed to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Four score and seven years ago