History

Why “Four Score and Seven Years Ago”?

The complicated politics and philosophies behind the first six words of the Gettysburg Address.

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Tuesday marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. In this excerpt from The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation, by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell, out now from William Morrow, the cartoonists explore the speech’s first six words.

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Excerpted from The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation, by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell, out now from William Morrow.

Correction, Nov. 19, 2013: A panel in this excerpt misstated that the Hartford Convention of 1814-15 occurred during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. It occurred during James Madison’s presidency. The original panel remains.