Yesterday, I posted a blog celebrating Jefferson's birthday. Today, a different kind of anniversary weighs on me. 151 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
Besides being 2 of the 43 men who have served our country as President, they're also connected through Lincoln's passion for the ideals Jefferson so eloquently articulated in the Declaration of Independence.
In the years following 1776, the Declaration's only real significance came in the form of the Revolution. It didn't lay out a form of government. The Articles of Confederation had to be written to serve that purpose and later, the Constitution replaced them. As the country began to establish itself among the nations of the world and it had to defend itself from those who sought to crush it, including Britain in 1812, the Declaration was kind of forgotten.
But since the founders had avoided resolving the sin of slavery for the sake of building the nation, tension eventually built up to the eruption of the Civil War. Many of the abolitionists of that time, as well as Lincoln, went back to the well of sentiment dug by Jefferson.
If you grew up and studied in the American education system, you undoubtedly were exposed to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Being one of the most significant pieces of our history and owing to its brevity, it has easily become one of the most familiar orations by anyone in the world. However, it wouldn't have been possible without Jefferson's influence on Lincoln.
Whatever the reasons each side held for justification of the Civil War, the Gettysburg Address went on to galvanize the North. In just a few minutes, Lincoln was able to remind his people that the reason for the nation's conception gave them a moral obligation to persevere.
As he honored the dead, he inspired the living.
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