What Lincoln Did Not Say

The Gettysburg Address is significant, in part, for what Lincoln chose not to mention.

* One might expect the Commander in Chief of the Union army to point out that the Battle of Gettysburg was a victory for the North, but he does not mention the outcome of the battle. Indeed, Lincoln doesn't even refer to the battle by name.

* There is no reference to the enemy in Lincoln's speech. He offers no list of grievences against the South. In fact, the words "enemy," "South," and "North" don't appear in the speech.

* Another word missing from the speech is "slavery." Nor is there any reference to the people held in bondage under that institution which brought North and South into armed conflict.