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The Battle Of The Gettysburg

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Today, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. However, with 23,049 casualties on the Union side and 28,063 on the Confederate side, it can also be considered one of the bloodiest (Civil War Trust). Such heavy losses naturally rattled the entire nation and Americans on both sides began to question the war and what it stood for. As Americans gathered together at the consecration ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the much acclaimed orator and politician Edward Everett delivered what was meant to be the Gettysburg Address. Yet, today, it is not Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address that the world remembers, but Abraham Lincoln’s, who was invited to the ceremony almost as an afterthought. Lincoln’s 272 words helped remake America by giving hope to its citizens at a time when they were at their lowest.
For Everett, the Battle of Gettysburg was a parallel to the ancient Battle of Marathon and his moment up on the stage delivering his Address was his “Pericles moment.” The nineteenth century was a time of Greek revival for America, a time when America came to be considered the second Athens. This Greek revival manifested itself in everything from architecture to courses at universities, but perhaps most importantly, in orations at the time. Everett played a significant role in this Greek revival as he was not only a Greek scholar but also a proponent of classicism. With his Gettysburg Address, Everett hoped to

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