The Gettysburg Address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, is one of the most famous speeches throughout American History. In it, Abraham Lincoln states to the mass attending his speech following the battle of Gettysburg, that "we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground." This is because the soldiers who have fought and died on the battlefield where he was holding the speech, have already sacrificed their lives in a valiant honor for the preservation of the Union (United States) during the time of the civil war. Consecrate means to make holy, and when Lincoln suggests not to consecrate the grounds, it is because they have done a holier deed that is incomparable for Lincoln or any of the listeners to replicate. That by sacrificing one's life in battle for the preservation of the country, is one of the highest honors possible.
