Reaction to the Gettysburg Address
There is some debate about the immediate public reaction to the Gettysburg Address. Some newspapers panned it, others loved it. According to some accounts, the crowd gathered for the dedication didn't think it was a very good speech for the occasion — and neither did Lincoln himself. Historian Shelby Foote says that Lincoln lamented that the speech was "a flat failure and the people are disappointed." Wills disputes this account, saying the claim that Lincoln was disappointed with the speech "has no basis."
Shortly after Lincoln's assassination, he was often martyred in the press, so these references to the Gettysburg Address cannot necessarily be taken as absolute fact. The New York Times does refer to the speech as "the late President Lincoln's celebrated Gettysburg Address" in a May 30, 1868, article.
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Today, it is generally accepted that the Gettysburg Address is an important document that provides an interpretation of the Declaration of Independence that we still refer to today. Not only has it changed our views on government, but it has influenced Americans' goal for equality and a government that "shall not perish from the earth."
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