The Gettysburg Address has become an authoritative expression of the American spirit--as authoritative as the Declaration itself, and perhaps even more influential, since it determines how we read the Declaration. For most people now, the Declaration means what Lincoln told us it means, as a way of correcting the Constitution itself without overthrowing it. It is this correction of the spirit, this intellectual revolution, that makes attempts to go back beyond Lincoln to some earlier version so feckless. The proponents of states' rights may have arguments, but they have lost their force, in courts as well as in the popular mind. By accepting the Gettysburg Address, its concept of a single people dedicated to a proposition, we have been changed. Because of it, we live in a different America.
-Garry Wills

Write a letter to Garry Wills, as discussed in class, using the business letter format, responding to this quote and inviting him to come to our class. You might even include, in your last paragraph, questions you would like him to answer. The draft of this letter is due on Monday.

And don't forget to practice your signature!