“. . .On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.”
—Abraham Lincoln, 4 July 1961
In a special message to Congress, describing the reason for preserving the Union.
Today I am grateful for a land where the condition of men has been so elevated because of the sacrifice of so many who came before. On their sacred ground, I have a chance to make my future—to work, to dream, and to build in freedom. Thank you to all have fought and who do fight to preserve such rights. I am grateful for all who seek to "elevate the condition of men" in their civic standing, but also their personal standing.
I am grateful for those, who through their personal goodness and virtue blaze a pathway of self-improvement and self-discipline. They show a way to becoming better people, better citizens, better sons and daughters, better families, better friends, better husbands and wives.
I am grateful on this anniversary of our country's Independence for such men and women who sacrifice and who did sacrifice to build a structure of civic freedom. And equally grateful for those, through their personal goodness show how to achieve the true freedom of self-mastery.
Happy Independence Day.
