Tag Archives: abrahamlincoln

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Daily Broadside | Why Civil War Statues in the South Are Important

I had a thought prompted by an article in The American Spectator a couple of days ago. In it, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. observes about the American Civil War that,

… the monuments to only one side remain, and many of the ignoramuses who are tearing down monuments have their eyes too on Union leaders whose reputations they sully with the slander of racism. There was racism to be sure on both sides in times past, and there were other forms of intolerance: religious intolerance, ethnic intolerance, and intolerance of immigrants, for instance. Today, intolerance is still around, but it is being taught in the nation’s classrooms. There, intolerance is being taught under the guise of progressivism with perfumed words such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Intolerance, apparently, you always have with you.

He’s referring, of course, to the grotesque specter of the wild, woke and irrational antifa and BLM fascists who rampaged across our nation a couple of years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Shortly afterward I chronicled the number of statues and monuments that were torn down or defaced. Several of them were men from the Confederacy like Robert E. Lee or Jefferson Davis, but others were from the Union including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.

After the initial spasms, several cities and counties permanently removed statues honoring heroes of South. According to a CNN article in 2022, “73 Confederate monuments were removed or renamed in 2021,” leaving 723 across the US.

Last year, a towering statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed in Richmond, Virginia, and added to the growing list of Confederate symbols that had been taken down across the country. This week, Richmond began the process of removing the pedestals that once held the monuments to the Confederacy, which included Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Jefferson Davis and others, according to CNN affiliate WRIC.

Of course, the vandalism forced all of us to wrestle with a fair question: why do modern Americans tolerate monuments to men who were racists and who fought to keep the institution of slavery? Until then had it ever been seriously considered?

Here’s my thought: the answer is to be found in the final line of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address.

“With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

After beating the Confederate army, Lincoln faced the task of healing a severely divided nation. He was extending an olive branch to the Confederate south, of which Lee would surrender his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865.

Healing the country, rather than vengeance, directed Grant’s and the Lincoln administration’s actions. There would be no mass imprisonments or executions, no parading of defeated enemies through Northern streets. Lincoln’s priority—shared by Grant—was “to bind up the nation’s wounds” and unite the country together again as a functioning democracy under the Constitution; extended retribution against the former Confederates would only slow down the process.

For Lincoln there would be no gloating, no shaming, no exulting in the defeat of his countrymen. He would not take out his anger and frustration on his kinsmen; he would allow them the dignity and respect due a noble foe. It started with Ulysses S. Grant allowing General Lee and his men to return to their homes and letting the officers, cavalrymen, and artillerymen keep their swords and horses if the men agreed to lay down their arms and abide by federal law.

It was as if two brothers had gotten into a fist fight and one finally gave up. The victor, rather than relishing his victory, hated that the fight had to be had, and extended a hand to help his brother up. Putting his arm around him, they walked into the house and got cleaned up. After all, they were members of the same family and would have to go on living together.

That’s why we allowed the memorials to be built. It was part of an extended act of forgiveness and respect for the members of our family who had made a principled, but misguided and ultimately, futile stand.

Our modern fascists, however, are determined to do what Lincoln refused to do: take vengeance. They are punishing in absentia those whom Lincoln refused to punish. They have withdrawn the offer of a “just and lasting peace” and instead have taken out their anger on both sides of the issue that had been settled nearly 160 years ago.

The South’s decision to defend slavery was indefensible. But they were Americans, our countrymen. We took them to the woodshed, but tended their wounds after breaking them of their poor habit.

If only we could still see it that way.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Be Sure To Celebrate All the Presidents Today

As a kid I remember having Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays off from school in February every year. Since 1971 all of our presidents are ‘celebrated’ in a homogenized “President’s Day” on Washington’s birthday. A bill passed by Congress in 1968, called the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act,” consolidated the two birthdays and renamed it for the purpose of creating a three-day weekend.

It was fun having a day off from school but I don’t remember my parents making any effort to impress on me the importance of Washington or Lincoln to our way of life. I don’t fault them for that; I’m sure that they, like most Americans of that era, took for granted that an abiding sense of gratitude and freedom would be passed along through our shared culture and values. However, their lack of concern to pass along the weight of Washington’s and Lincoln’s contributions to the life and preservation of our union is reflected in the formal law passed by Congress — along with others that have shifted the priorities of what we choose to recognize.

For the sake of convenience and leisure, we anonymized two holidays and lumped the two luminaries in with every other president we’ve had. It’s the principle of the participation trophy: if everyone is special, then no one is special.

Exactly what — and who — are we celebrating on President’s Day? Are we just observing the fact that we have presidents? Is that somehow noble? More noble than kings or prime ministers?

Is that worth a day off?

Are all of our presidents worthy of celebrating? Are some more worthy than others? Do we really want to lump the likes of Carter and Obama in with true statesmen like Washington and Lincoln?

My advice to families with young children: make it a point to emphasize the lives and impact of Washington and Lincoln and why they are worth remembering. Add Reagan in there, too.

If I had my way, I’d go back to celebrating Washington and Lincoln separately. If Mondays are still important, give us two three-day weekends in February — one for Washington and one for Lincoln. But if you can’t do that, then get rid of “President’s Day” altogether. It’s meaningless and makes a mockery of the observances we used to have.

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Daily Broadside | The Obvious Big Missing Object of Thanksgiving Today

Daily Verse | 1 Corinthians 8:9
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

Thursday’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 9-11

Thanksgiving has deep roots in the history of the United States. We all know the story of the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people sharing an autumn harvest feast in 1621 that is known as the first Thanksgiving. Michael Hollan shares a brief history of Thanksgiving becoming a formal holiday.

Before it became an official holiday, President George Washington issued a proclamation that Thursday, November 26, 1789, would be a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer,” according to the Unites States Office of the Historian. It wasn’t until 1863, however, that President Abraham Lincoln said that Americans should recognize the last Thursday of every November as a day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving became an official national holiday in 1870, along with Christmas, New Year’s Day and Independence Day, the government website states. At that time, it was decided that the president would decide the date of Thanksgiving. Most followed Lincoln’s lead and chose the last Thursday of November, according to the Office of the Historian.

This continued until President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it to the third Thursday of November, according to the Office of the Historian. At the time, the country was still reeling from the Great Depression, and Roosevelt hoped to help businesses by extending the holiday season.

The move was controversial, however, and the House passed a bill in October of 1941 that made the last Thursday of November the official date for Thanksgiving. 

Some 80 years later, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving as one of our major national observances and as a lead-in to “the holiday season.” But the spirit of the day in our current era is a far cry from what the original intent of the celebration was.

In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends.

No kidding. Here’s how George Washington described the day:

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

Here’s how Abraham Lincoln described the day:

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,

In our secular world, the idea of thanksgiving has been boiled down to having a huge meal with family or friends and watching a football game while we enjoy a day off of work. If we’re trying to inject something meaningful into our observance, we might share what we’re thankful for: family, friends, financial security, good weather, safe travels, the new job, baby, house or car.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with those things, but we seem to be missing the implied object of our thanks. The word is thanks-GIVING. To whom are we giving thanks?

The Pilgrims, Washington and Lincoln all had it right. Our thanks is to be directed to God, “that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be,” and “to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

1 Chronicles 29:14

Today, as you observe Thanksgiving, remember that all that we have comes from the hand of the Lord. Celebrate appropriately.

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Daily Broadside | New Holiday’s Origins Are Rooted in the Bible

Daily Verse | Psalm 53:1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

Monday’s Reading: Psalms 55-59

Happy Monday. Apologies for the absence over the last few days — a collision of priorities meant I had to demote my blogging to concentrate on other matters.

If you are a dad, Happy (belated) Father’s Day. I enjoyed the day with all of my family — minus one who lives half a continent away. It’s nice to be formally appreciated once a year, and I’m grateful that it comes within the context of strong family relationships so that it’s not something done out of obligation but our of genuine love and respect.

We had an awesome pizza dinner and watched Dinesh D’Souza’s “2000 Mules.” If you haven’t seen it, I strongly encourage you to spend the $20. After watching it, you can’t say that the 2020 election wasn’t completely corrupted, if not outright stolen.

General Orders No. 3

Yesterday was also the second annual recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Uncle Joe signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021, and I have the day off today in honor of the holiday.

I didn’t understand until recently that Juneteenth is about commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans in the United States.

Juneteenth has been celebrated for more than 156 years, though its history is possibly lesser known than other American observances. Although the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved African Americans in Confederate states, went into effect in 1863, this document did not immediately end slavery. In fact, it took until June 19, 1865—more than two years later—to end the horrors of slavery in Texas. And slavery continued in pockets of some Union states until December 6, 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified and slavery was formally ended in America.

Part of the reason it took that long to reach Texas was that the Civil War was still being fought, yet the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Because of that, many southerners took their slaves and moved to Texas to keep them out of the war’s reach.

It took 2,000 federal troops two and a half years to arrive in Texas to take control of the state and to enforce emancipation. The man who led the troops and announced that 250,000 slaves in Texas were free was U.S. General Gordon Granger, who stood on the soil of Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and read General Orders No. 3 (pictured above):

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January of 1863, freeing all slaves in the southern states, but it didn’t go into practical effect until the Union won the Civil War. You can’t enforce a law in a territory you don’t control.

It wasn’t until two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered in April, 1865, when the news got to Texas and the last enslaved African Americans were told about their freedom. And it was there, in Galveston, that the idea of Juneteenth took root.

While there was relief and joy in the immediacy of the proclamation, the former slaves started formally celebrating Juneteenth in Galveston the next year. Celebrations were initially held in churches, and “the original observances included prayer meetings and the singing of spirituals, and celebrants wore new clothes as a way of representing their newfound freedom.” They also included reading the Emancipation Proclamation.

The name, “Juneteenth” is a later designation. Throughout its history, the holiday has also been known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Black Independence Day, and Juneteenth Independence Day.

In the era following their liberation, however, African-Americans called their observance “Jubilee Day.” It refers to the biblical practice of every 50 years “when land was to be returned, debts forgiven, and enslaved people were to be set free. Announced by the loud blast of a ram’s horn, biblical scholars note, the Jubilee year was grounded in the idea of freedom, orchestrating an economic, cultural, and moral reordering of society.”

It’s based on Leviticus 25:8-55. Verse 10 reads,

Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.

One report explains,

At the time, Texas was the farthest state West and the last to hear of freedom more than two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. As the news spread, the shock for some 250,000 enslaved Texans quickly turned to celebration. Juneteenth combines the words ‘June’ and ‘Nineteenth,’ but according to Tisby it was originally referred to as Jubilee Day – a biblical reference [to] the book of Leviticus, which tells the story of how the Israelites celebrated their freedom from slavery in Egypt. Faith formed the foundation of what would become America’s most recent federal holiday. 

Unfortunately, it seems as though Juneteenth has, at least in part, become detached from its roots and is now becoming a secular observance that isn’t satisfied with just remembering that the slaves had been freed after a long and bloody war that produced some 650,000 casualties. “The question becomes, what does it mean to celebrate that freedom gained, and what freedoms now are still being sought after?“

That’s an open question that includes discussions of reparations and accusations of systemic racism and tension between the races. Dr. Ben Carson, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under president Trump, encourages us to learn from the past and to appreciate the present.

“Juneteenth is so important because it actually efficiently recognizes the emancipation of the slaves, and slavery was a horrible thing, there’s no question about it. But I think we need to recognize that slavery has been a part of virtually every civilization since there has been written history,” Carson explained …

He continued, “We in America have actually done something that no one else really did. That is, we had so many people who are opposed to it that we fought a Civil War, a bloody Civil War, lost a large portion of our population to get rid of this evil. And that says something about this nation as a people. We’re not all the same. We have a lot of different opinions but overall tendency was to move toward freedom and justice for people” …

“It would be very nice if a lot of the people who are complaining today about the United States could go and live in some other parts of the world for a little while, and I think they would have a tremendous appreciation of freedom we have and why it is so vitally important for us to not only understand it but to protect it for those who are coming behind us and particularly for our young people,” Carson said.

For now, the longest-running African-American observance is Juneteenth, which originally celebrated the end of slavery in the U.S. The celebration included singing spiritual songs, prayer meetings, and likely thanksgiving to God for their newfound freedom. That posture would be worth restoring on the day which commemorates the emancipation of our black brothers and sisters of that era.

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Daily Broadside | Astonishing News That Has Nothing to Do with Politics

Daily Verse | 1 Kings 4:31
[Solomon] was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.

Tuesday’s Reading: 1 Kings 5-8

It’s Tuesday and there have been some interesting tidbits that I wanted to call to your attention, especially since tracking the devolution of the United States is like watching a dumpster fire onboard a train jumping the tracks and arcing into the abyss in slow motion. It’s awful, but you want to see what happens.

Except I don’t mind tearing my eyes away for a minute to give them a rest.

308-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Being Sold at Auction This Summer

A 308-year-old violin that was played on movie music from Hollywood’s Golden Age – including “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz – could fetch as much as $20 million this summer, which would make it the most expensive instrument ever sold at auction.

The violin was handcrafted in Italy in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, the famed craftsman who made violins for the ultra-rich, including King James II of England, King Charles III of Spain and Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany.

It’s remarkable that such an instrument still has life in it, and its provenance works on several different levels to make it valuable. The first is its age, the second is its maker, and the third is its link to one of the most iconic American movies ever made and one of that film’s most iconic songs. It’s literally holding a piece of history in your hands.

Speaking of history, the next item is also connected to a well-known historical moment.

Fabric from Actress Laura Keene’s Bloodied Dress For Sale

A blood-stained fabric swatch that’s said to come from a dress worn at the time of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination is going up for sale.

The small rectangular strip reportedly belonged to actress Laura Keene, who starred in an onstage production of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the day of Lincoln’s assassination, April 14, 1865.

While this one is sort of macabre, there’s something compelling about holding a physical object in your hand that “was there” when that moment happened, as though by possession it connects you to the moment. The relic of the tragedy gives us literal color and texture that words or primitive photos could only approximate. “So that’s what it looked like,” we say.

And finally, there’s this, which makes concrete something that up until now, was conceptual and disputed.

Curse Tablet Found on Mount Ebal Suggests Early Literacy Came to Israel

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse… thou shalt set the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.” (Deuteronomy 11:26, 29)

Now an official curse has been found, engraved on a lead tablet that dates to the biblical age and had sat in the detritus of an excavation of Mt. Ebal for decades, the Associates for Biblical Research of Houston, Texas announced on Thursday.

This is very exciting. What we have here is a tiny piece of folded lead (about the size of a postage stamp) on which is proto-alphabetic writing also known as Sinaitic script or proto-Canaanite script. If it’s dating is confirmed, it will be the earliest-known Hebrew text by several hundred years, and the first to contain the Hebrew name of God, YWH (or YHWH), also known as the tetragrammaton.

Consisting of 40 ancient proto-Sinaitic letters on a lead sheet that was subsequently folded, and could only to be read by tomographic scanning, the inscription reads:

“Cursed, cursed, cursed – cursed by the God YHW.
You will die cursed.
Cursed you will surely die.
Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”

It’s a warning to those who break the terms of a covenant. The amulet was discovered on top of Mt. Ebal at the site of Joshua’s altar, where scripture reports he built one after entering the Promised Land.

Critics say that the accounts of Joshua and the Israelites were written hundreds of years after the events they claim to report. If the dating holds up, it’s more likely that the accounts in the “Old” Testament were contemporaneous, being written down as the Israelites walked through a parted Red Sea, trudged through the desert and crossed the Jordan.

Archeology always confirms the Bible’s accounts, never contradicts them.

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Daily Broadside | “We Shall Nobly Save, or Meanly Lose, the Last Best Hope of Earth”

Daily Verse | Hosea 13:6
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;
    then they forgot me.

On the weekly merry-go-round we arrive once more at Friday. Please dismount and exit on the far side of the ride.

In yesterday’s commentary I suggested that there were some other things I think we can do to resist the collapse of the United States as we know it. Certainly prayer and the other six activities recommended by Doug Wilson are central to preparing and, perhaps, surviving the fall of “the last, best hope of earth.”

When our Founders decided to separate from Great Britain, they wrote in the Declaration of Independence a list of the grievances they had against the British crown, i.e. King George III. Here is how the declaration introduces the list.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

“A long train of abuses and usurpations” refers to the regular violation of the colonists’ rights, including taxation without representation, cutting off the colonists’ ability to trade, keeping a standing army in the colonies and not allowing fair trials. The declaration goes on to repeat the claim that “the history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

I would dare say that we are now back at that stage in our current historical moment, the only difference being that the seat of “federal” government in 1776 was on the other side of the ocean. Today, it sits in Washington, D.C. and sounds an awful lot like what is described as “having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

Jefferson and the drafting committee wrote up a list of 27 “Facts” they would submit “to a candid world” as proof of their complaints. Listen to some of these and tell me this isn’t déjà vu all over again.

“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Laws like keeping our borders secure and allowing oil processing and coal mining to proceed uninterrupted, to name just a couple.

“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.” Using pressure tactics or bribery or direct threats to gain compliance is as old as King George III. Anybody remember who said, “Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically-elected congress”?

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.” Internal Revenue Service, anyone? The FBI? Department of Justice? Department of Education? Do they not “harrass our people”?

“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” Can you say Mark Milley-Vanillie?

“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:” Do you consent to all of the taxes the government imposes on you? In addition to income taxes, there are hidden fees, surcharges, sales taxes and service charges that add up to $657.5 billion in hidden taxes that Americans pay each year. How about the House trying to pass $3.5 TRILLION in new spending? Guess how that will be funded.

“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Domestic insurrections like antifa and Burn, Loot, Murder, Inc. and the invasion of inhabitants across our borders from all manner of places that do not understand or care about freedom who will destroy “all ages, sexes and conditions.”

In order to justify not just resisting, but actively fighting back, we need to make our case before “a candid world” and nation. Not that our domestic enemies would care or even be able to comprehend the purpose of such a document. They’d see it as disobedience and fly into a rage, just like King George III. But we need to have something that gives us a framework for seeing the situation clearly and provides a common justification for any action we take.

Someone has to do it, and perhaps we can start with the short list above, tying it back to our Founding and taking Jefferson’s words to heart, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Remember Their Last Full Measure

Daily Verse | Job 13:15a
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.

It’s Memorial Day 2021, a national day set aside to remember and honor those who laid down their lives to defend and to perpetuate our freedoms. Those who have died on the battlefield, as Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, “gave the last full measure of devotion.” They had no more to give.

Occasionally such sacrifice has to be made. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “[t]he tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” We too often forget that our ease has been purchased with blood and violence.

Freedom is not our natural state. It must be zealously guarded, sometimes fought for, and never be taken for granted.

I wonder if the spirit of Lincoln’s speech still resides somewhere in the hearts of Americans:

“It is for us, the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is 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 here gave the last full measure of devotion.

“That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Take a moment today to remember, to be grateful, and to personally resolve that those who have died defending our freedoms have not died in vain.