Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation

William Gollihur

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” What was new about this nation? We were supposed to be a free nation, a peaceful nation. Lincoln realized these standards. He also realized that we had not yet reached this noble cause. Furthermore, that this noble cause was in jeopardy. The south’s succession over freedom thrust our nation into a defining moment, the American Civil War. Slavery in the land of the free, civil war in a nation of peace, this was not the vision set forth for America. “My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.” Lincoln had a dream; his dream was that America could always be the model of the world. He knew that the best way to be a role model for the world was not to be a divided land of agony and death, but a land of hope and freedom for all those who seek it. Lincoln’s courage to confront the conflict of slavery caused America to choose its fate: its citizens bound by inequality for some or freedom for all. Lincoln’s ideals and morals have set the foundation for the free America we now cherish and love; the America that has hope and everlasting freedom for those who seek it. Lincoln shaped America as we know it today, with an overwhelming impact that no other president has been able to accomplish. We the people should remember America’s refining moment. William Gollihur Fisher Jr/Sr High School Fisher IL