“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that ‘all men are created equal.’” These words formed the opening of Abraham Lincoln’s renowned speech, the Gettysburg Address, given at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1963. However, the Gettysburg Address is much greater than that one sentence. The Gettysburg Address expresses Abraham Lincoln’s ideas on the preservation of the United States, comparable to notions conveyed in speeches by Daniel Webster and in addresses by the Founding Fathers. The Gettysburg Address is a well-known speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln that expresses his ideas on the Civil War and the United States. The address begins by stating that eighty-seven years ago, in 1776, the Founding Fathers of the United States established the nation based on the principles of liberty and human equality. Due to the novelty of founding a country on equality, the Civil War held significance for the United States and the …show more content…
Akin to Lincoln’s ideas on the preservation of the United States, Daniel Webster also communicated thoughts on the importance of protecting America from division. For example, in response to a South Carolina senator during a Senate debate, Webster emphasized the importance of the union of the states and the metaphorical darkness of disunion. In a later oration, in response to John C. Calhoun on the Force Bill, Webster stated that it is unimaginable for one state to be allowed to secede from the United States and break up the country. Furthermore, Webster went on to declare that Nullification attacks the fundamental principle of the country and would lead to revolution and disunion. Moreover, Webster once again stressed the union of the states and his opposition to secession, in reply to Calhoun’s opinion on the Compromise of