Meanwhile .... on a Field in Pennsylvania

I thought about this movie again last night. I have watched it countless times and absolutely love it. Yes, the fake beards are terrible but the incredible story is compelling. I have learned about the men who fought and died there for many years now. The passions that brought us as a nation to this point. The army that had to win this battle and eventually the war at such a tremendous cost. Good men died on both sides. The price that the nation paid was unimaginable. I am reminded of the words of a young Abraham Lincoln, long before he was the President of the United States known as the Lyceum Address. It is prophetic and haunting to read now. Here is only a portion of the speech.

The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions:
Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
January 27, 1838

"How then shall we perform it?--At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."