Summary of the speech:

- It was a short speech to remind people why the Civil War was fought. It also honored the sacrifice of the many men who had died fighting it.

- Lincoln reminded his audience that the United States was founded based on liberty and equality.

- He stated that the Civil War was being fought to uphold and safeguard these ideal. 標準極高的原則

- It is one of the most powerful statements in the English language and one of the most important expressions of freedom and liberty in any language.

- Everett immediately afterward wrote to Lincoln: “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”

Some Important Parts of the Speech:

- Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in孕育於 liberty, and dedicated to致力於 the proposition主張 that all men are created equal.

Example: He has dedicated his life to scientific research. 他把自己的一生都奉獻給科學研究。

- Score in English have a meaning of 20.  Fourscore and seven years equals to 87 years.

Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, 87 years after America became independence in 1776.

- We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain徒勞的；枉然的；無用的—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."

Example: I tried in vain to start a conversation. 我嘗試打開話題但不成功。