Thaddeus Stevens and the Gettysburg Address
November 2022
By Ross Hetrick
Asked why he and other prominent politicians were not going to attend Lincoln's speech in Gettysburg, Thaddeus Stevens said, "Let the dead bury the dead."
Stevens quoted this enigmatic Biblical passage because he thought Lincoln was politically dead at the time and would not be re-elected president. But near the end of 1864, battlefield victories came in fast and furiously and Lincoln won a second term, only to be cut down a month into his new term.
It's too bad that Stevens didn't go to Lincoln's immortal address. Perhaps he could have shown Lincoln around Gettysburg, where he had lived for 26 years, and some of the fame of the event would have rubbed off on him. Despite his legendary ability of persuasion, Thad could have used a good PR consultant some times.
One thing Lincoln's speech established for all time is the truth that "brevity is the soul of wit." Edward Everett's two-hour speech at the same event is long forgotten and only brought up as an example of wordiness.
In an age when marathon speeches were common, Stevens's orations were distinguished for being short, eloquent and to the point. While none of his speeches were to become as well know as the Gettysburg Address, Stevens poetically summed up his political principles on June 13, 1866 just before the passage of the 14th Amendment in Congress. The measure, which he introduced, promised to fulfill the long delayed promise of all people are created equal and extend the protection of the Bill of Rights to the state level. And even though it was his creation, he was dissatisfied with the way it had been changed, particularly on voting rights.
Stevens expressed his dismay and hope this way: “In my youth, in my manhood, in my old age, I had fondly dreamed that when any fortunate chance should have broken up for a while the foundation of our institutions, and released us from obligations the most tyrannical that ever man imposed in the name of freedom, that the intelligent pure and just men of this Republic, true to their professions and their consciences, would have so remodeled all our institutions as to have rid them from every vestige of human oppression, of the inequity of rights, of the recognized degradation of the poor, and the superior caste of the rich. In short, that no distinction would be tolerated in this purified Republic but what arose from merit and conduct. This bright dream has vanished ‘like the baseless fabric of a vision.’ I find that we shall be obliged to be content with patching up the worst portions of the ancient edifice, and leaving it, in many of its parts, to be swept through by the tempests, the frosts, and the storms of despotism.
"Do you inquire why, holding these views and possessing some will of my own, I accept so imperfect a proposition? I answer, because I live among men and not among angels; among men as intelligent, as determined, and as independent as myself, who not agreeing with me, do not choose to yield their opinions to mine. Mutual concession, therefore, is our only resort, or mutual hostilities.”
Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/
