Abraham Lincoln – Gettysburg Address (1863)

Primary Source Comprehension • Approx. Lexile 950 • Tabs: Main Idea & Details, Inference, Vocabulary
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Primary Source Text November 19, 1863 • Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (Bliss Copy)

The Gettysburg Address – Bliss Copy

Abraham Lincoln – November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us— that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion— that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain— that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Comprehension Tabs
Questions in each tab refer to the speech above.
1. What is the main purpose of the Gettysburg Address?
Main idea of the entire speech.
2. What does Lincoln mean by “Four score and seven years ago”?
Detail about when “our fathers brought forth” the new nation.
3. According to Lincoln, what is the Civil War “testing”?
Detail about the purpose of the “great civil war.”
4. What does Lincoln say “the world will little note, nor long remember”?
Detail about the speech versus the soldiers’ actions.
5. What can be inferred about how Lincoln views the soldiers who died at Gettysburg?
Inference from his praise of the honored dead.
6. Why does Lincoln repeat the phrase “we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground”?
Inference about the effect of repetition in this line.
7. What does Lincoln’s phrase “a new birth of freedom” suggest about his hopes for the nation after the war?
Inference from the phrase “new birth of freedom.”
8. What does the line “government of the people, by the people, for the people” reveal about Lincoln’s beliefs about government?
Inference about his view of democracy.
9. In the phrase “Four score and seven years ago,” the word “score” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context for the opening line.
10. In “we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground,” the word “consecrate” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context describing how ground is honored.
11. In the phrase “that this nation…shall not perish from the earth,” the word “perish” most nearly means
Vocabulary in context about the nation’s survival.
12. In “they gave the last full measure of devotion,” the phrase “last full measure of devotion” most nearly means
Vocabulary/figurative language about sacrifice.
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