Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863
by Abraham Lincoln
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
The Pledge
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The pledge was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892. Congress added the words "under God" in 1954.
Our National Anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key
"O, say! can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say! does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
The words of the national anthem were written in 1814, by Francis Scott Key. He scribbled them on the back of an envelope as he watched the British bombard Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. The flag he describes is displayed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
There are four verses, but usually only the first one is sung.
The "Star-Spangled Banner" became the national anthem in 1931. You can hear famous people singing it at the start of every major league baseball game and other big sports events.
Preamble to the Constitution
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
US Presidents
1. George Washington, 1789-1797
2. John Adams, 1797-1801
3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
4. James Madison, 1809-1817
5. James Monroe, 1817-1825
6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829
7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841
9. William Henry Harrison, 1841
10. John Tyler, 1841-1845
11. James K. Polk, 1845-1849
12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850
13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853
14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861
16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
17. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
18. Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877
19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881
20. James A. Garfield, 1881
21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885
22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
25. William McKinley, 1897-1901
26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
27. William H. Taft, 1909-1913
28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
29. Warren G. Harding, 1921-1923
30. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929
31. Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945
33. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953-1961
35. John F. Kennedy, 1961-1963
36. Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1969
37. Richard Nixon, 1969-1974
38. Gerald Ford, 1974-1977
39. Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981
40. Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989
41. George Bush, 1989-1993
42. Bill Clinton, 1993-2001
43. George W. Bush, 2001-
50 States and Capitals
See Spelling Lists and Planner
Requirements
The Great American Award is an incentive program that was developed by a group of teachers to help fifth grade students learn more about their country. The following are the basic requirements that students must fulfill by the end of fifth grade to earn their Great American Award. Good luck!
· The Pledge of Allegiance write the pledge with correct spelling and punctuation. (No mistakes)
· Preamble of the US Constitution recite (No mistakes)
· Star-Spangled Banner sing or recite the first verse (No mistakes)
· The 50 State and Capitals memorize the 50 states and capitals, be able to match them correctly. (No mistakes)
· Presidents of the United States recite at least the last names in chronological order (3 helps or prompts)
· The Gettysburg Address recite (3 helps or prompts)
