Gettysburg: (Re)birthing America
The Battle of Gettysburg and its corresponding commemorative address were paramount to the shaping of postbellum America. The battle itself, which is widely regarded as the turning point of the war, officially marked both the political and militant “beginning of the end” for the Confederate States. The memorial speech, presented by President Abraham Lincoln and known simply as The Gettysburg Address, was of equal importance, serving as a terse reminder that the horrors of war were a necessity in the preservation of a Union dedicated to the principles of human equality and self-government outlined by its Founding Fathers.