Gettysburg Address: The Trenton Connection

Posted in Past Events

Sunday, November 17, 2013

2 pm

General Admission – $5
Free for Trenton Museum Society Members

 

LincolnNovember 19th is the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, one of history’s great speeches.

Did you know there is a Trenton connection to the Gettysburg Address?

Lincoln made two short speeches in Trenton in February 1861 that remarkably presaged the Gettysburg address.   One speech was made to the NJ State Senate, the other to the NJ Assembly.  Lincoln had been elected President but had not yet been inaugurated into office.  He stopped in Trenton while traveling toward his inauguration in Washington — and in a larger sense, toward his rendezvous with history.

Speaking before the NJ Senate, Lincoln recollected thinking, as a boy, about the Battle of Trenton.  He recalled “The crossing of the river; the contest with the Hessians; the great hardships endured at that time.”  He felt that the extraordinary efforts of the revolutionary soldiers were motivated by an extraordinary purpose even greater than achieving national independence.  Lincoln was already thinking of great struggles lying ahead and of the important role of ideas in creating history.   Compared to the power of ideas, Lincoln expressed his humility, and spoke of himself as the “humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty.”

Dave Bosted, Trenton Museum Society Trustee, will tell the story of the Gettysburg Address and its connection to Trenton history.

To download a copy of the Gettysburg Address or Lincoln’s addresses to the NJ Senate and Assembly >>> The Gettysburg Address FAST FACTS Lincoln’s Address to the New Jersey State Senate Assembly