📖 Reading Passage: The Gettysburg Address

Paragraph 1: On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to dedicate a national cemetery. Just four months earlier, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War had taken place there. Over 50,000 soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies were killed, wounded, or missing after three days of fierce fighting. The Union army had won the battle, but at a terrible cost. Local officials wanted to honor the fallen soldiers by creating a special burial ground.

Paragraph 2: Lincoln was not the main speaker that day. Edward Everett, a famous orator, gave a two-hour speech before Lincoln spoke. When Lincoln stood up, he delivered what we now call the Gettysburg Address in just two minutes. His speech was only 272 words long, but it became one of the most important speeches in American history. Lincoln said that the living could not consecrate (make sacred) the battlefield because the brave men who died there had already done so through their sacrifice.

Paragraph 3: In his brief speech, Lincoln reminded Americans why the Civil War was being fought. He spoke of a "new birth of freedom" and said the nation must ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Lincoln transformed the meaning of the war from simply preserving the Union to creating a more perfect democracy where all people could be free. The Gettysburg Address helped unite the country around the idea that the soldiers' deaths must lead to lasting freedom and equality for all Americans.

📝 Part 1: Comprehension Questions

"Government _______ the people, _______ the people, _______ the people"

🎯 Part 2: Historical Significance