Background

=__Background Information__=

What was the Civil War?

 * A civil war is a war between states, in this case, the north vs. the south.

What happened?
In the Battle of Gettysburg, which is the bloodiest battle of the war, over 50,000 casualties were wounded, missing or killed. It is often known for the “turning-point” of the war. (Defeat of Lee’s invasion of the North) In response to that battle, a ceremony took place where Edward Everett and President Lincoln had their speech about the war. Everett spoke for two hours which was an appropriate duration during that time. Lincoln delivered a two minute speech in which he remarks, “That speech won’t scour. It is a flat failure.” However, his speech is now considered as one of the most famous written in his time. = = =__Time line__= July
 * The South (Confederates) fought against the North (Union) in regards to slavery issues. They feared that a strong central government might interfere with slavery.
 * Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president, which was viewed by the South as a grave threat to slavery and therefore a threat to the entire way of life.
 * South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, initially seceded from the Union. Not long after Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas joined them. It lasted for about 4 years. 1861-5
 * Then the south attack Fort Sumter, triggering the start of the civil war.

After the battle Pennsylvania governor Andrew Curtin had gave David Wills, a successful local citizen and judge, the task of cleaning up the horrible aftermath of the battle. Wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every availible building. Most of the casualties lay in hasty and inadequate graves and thousands of swollen dead lay among hundreds of bloated, dead horses. With the approval of the governor and the eighteen states whose sons were among the dead Wills acquires seventeen acres for the cemetery and had the Germantown landscape architect, William Saunders, draw up a plan for the national cememtary. July
 * 01-03** - The battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the civil war, over 51,000 wounded, missing or killed

After the battle Pennsylvania governor Andrew Curtin had gave David Wills, a successful local citizen and judge, the task of cleaning up the horrible aftermath of the battle. Wounded and dying were crowded into nearly every availible building. Most of the casualties lay in hasty and inadequate graves and thousands of swollen dead lay among hundreds of bloated, dead horses. With the approval of the governor and the eighteen states whose sons were among the dead Wills acquires seventeen acres for the cemetery and had the Germantown landscape architect, William Saunders, draw up a plan for the national cememtary.
 * 01-03** - The battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the civil war, over 51,000 wounded, missing or killed

September


 * 23** - Wills invites Edward Everett, the nation's foremost rhetorician, to speak at the dedication ceremony planned for October 23 . Everett needs more time to prepare and persuades Wills to postpone the ceremony to November 19.

November


 * 00** - Reinterment begins
 * 02** - David Wills invites President Lincoln to make a "few appropriate remarks" at the consecration of a cemetery for the Union war dead at Gettysburg and invites the President to stay at his home, along with Governor Curtin and Edward Everett.
 * 18** - Lincoln writes the first draft in Washington just before the 18th and revises it at the home of David Wills in Gettysburg.
 * 19** - Less than half the Union dead have been removed from their field graves.
 * 19** - Edward Everett speaks for two hours, as was common for the day.
 * 19** - Lincoln Makes his speech. The audience is stunned by its shortness, returning to his seat Lincln remarks,"That speech won't scour. It is a flat failure."
 * 20** - Everett writes Lincoln, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes."

After

Within a few years the bodies of more than 3,500 Union soldiers killed in the battle are reinterred in the cemetery. Following the Civil War, the remains of 3,320 Confederate soldiers were removed from the battlefield to cemeteries in the South. The cemetery is now the final resting place of over 6,000 honorably discharged servicemen and their dependents from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.

© [|Copyright] David R. Miller, 1998-2003 http://www.din-timelines.com/1863_gettysburg-address.shtml