Gettysburg Address Versus Declaration Of Independence

Lincoln’s Address Versus Jefferson’s Declaration

Two of the most important, and, perhaps the two most important documents in American history are the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. The Declaration of Independence, the document of secession written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, called for the complete independence of the states from the British Empire. The Gettysburg Address was a document on the theory of union that stressed the need for one united country and expressed the importance of doing whatever necessary to complete the task of keeping the states united as one. It was written and delivered by Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at a cemetery dedication for soldiers who had died in the famous Civil War battle there.

These two documents of Jefferson and Lincoln’s are different in more ways than they are similar. More specifically, the clear difference between the two in organization and contradiction of arguments that each expresses are what show that the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence were two documents written on completely different ends of the spectrum. Because of this, the two are just as significant to each other as they are individually to the construction and shaping of America and its rich history. The fact that these two documents are so different from one another is what makes them such great pieces of history. Jefferson’s idea of decentralization and freedom versus Lincoln’s theory of one centralized, unified, and indivisible nation and government represents the change and difference of opinion between two people of different eras in American history. This change and difference of opinion was the result of a growing country and is what was needed in order...

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...re. At the same time though, Lincoln’s national theory of union and centralized government was vital in maintaining the states as the United States of America. The irony and significance of these two documents is that neither man’s argument would be considered the correct one at all points in American history, nor would they be considered incorrect at every point in history either. But, these documents are considered to be two of the most important documents in American history, because they were composed and delivered at the proper times in American history. The Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address are symbols of the men who composed them and the times that they were composed in. They represent the challenges that the country was faced with and the men, Jefferson and Lincoln, that accepted those challenges and overcame them with their own solutions.