The true story behind Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

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Title:

The true story behind Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Alternate title:

Three-minute speech

Author:

Armstrong, Jennifer, 1961- author.

Lorenz, Albert, 1941- illustrator.

Summary:

Examines the historical background in the Civil War of the famous speech made during the dedication of the new national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the impact it had on the United States throughout the years.

Physical Description:

87 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm

Personal Subject:

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. Gettysburg address-Juvenile literature.

Subject Term:

Consecration of cemeteries -- Pennsylvania -- Gettysburg -- Juvenile literature.

Geographic Term:

Soldiers' National Cemetery (Gettysburg, Pa.) -- Juvenile literature.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Juvenile literature.

Author(s):

Lorenz, Albert, 1941-

Publisher:

Aladdin,

Publication Date:

2013

2003

ISBN:

9781442493889

9781442493872

Publication Information:

2013

New York : Aladdin, 2013.

Call Number:

J 973.7 ARMSTRO

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002797036	Juvenile Nonfiction	973.7 ARMSTRO	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Get the behind-the-scenes scoop on President Lincoln's most famous speech, still resonant 150 years later.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave one of the most important speeches in the history of the United States--the Gettysburg Address. It wasn't even much a speech, really. Just a few remarks. Not meant to be remembered.

Yet 150 years later, those few remarks have been remembered. How come? What was the true meaning behind them? Where did they come from? Why is it so important that we never forget what President Lincoln said on that cold November day?

Originally published as A Three-Minute Speech , this concise, illustrated exploration of a momentous historical event is both fascinating and easy to read.

Author Notes

Jennifer Armstrong, a noted author of historical fiction, including "Black-Eyed Susan" & "The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan", lives in Saratoga Springs, New York.

(Publisher Provided)

Excerpts

The True Story Behind Lincoln's Gettysburg Address CHAPTER ONE IN THE BEGINNING IN THE BEGINNING were the British colonies in North America, separated by an ocean from the land they had left behind. Over the years the colonists became less and less British and more and more something new: American. Here, a man or a woman was not judged by his family or her title. Instead they were judged by their actions. There were no lords or dukes or baronesses. Here, no family deserved more wealth or more land or more opportunity than anyone else simply because they had an aristocratic ancestor. Those ancestors were buried in the ground an ocean away. Their voices did not reach across the Atlantic to demand special treatment. Here on the American continent people earned their place. Not only that, but the colonists felt they had earned something else: the right to decide for themselves what should happen on this side of the great ocean. The colonists wished to create their own laws. The king said no. The colonists wished to have some say in the government that collected taxes from them. The king said no. The colonists wished to choose their own judges. The king said no. The colonists wished for this, that, and another reasonable thing. To each request the king said no. Picture a father snapping at his children, telling them to be quiet and go to their rooms and stop asking so many questions. The colonists were beginning to wonder why they should continue to be ruled this way. Every child outgrows the authority of the parent. The American colonies had finally grown up. They no longer wished to be ruled by a king who was so far away he might as well live in a fairy story. It was time to make a new nation, a nation whose only parent would be freedom. This nation would steer its course by a revolutionary idea: All people were created equal. It would be a democracy, a government of the people, not an aristocracy, a government of kings and princely lords. That was the idea the country would dedicate itself to. Excerpted from The True Story Behind Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by Jennifer Armstrong All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.