Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial is a symbol of the American ideals of freedom, tolerance and compassion. Abraham Lincoln Memorial is not just a monument dedicated to the sixteenth U.S. president. This monument, which was started in 1914 and completed only after seven years - in 1922, has become a symbol of the U.S. civil rights.

Lincoln Memorial has a temple dedicated to the man who saved the American nation. He is the man who has called the nation "the last hope of the whole Earth."

President Lincoln led the U.S. during the Civil War (1861 - 1865 year). The Memorial symbolizes Lincoln's faith in the fact that all people should be free.

The building symbolizes the Union of states. Its perimeter contains thirty-six columns - the exact number of states that were united at the time of the death of Lincoln.

The names of forty-eight states - the number that was updated in 1922, upon completion of construction of the Lincoln Memorial, adorn the outer wall of the building. A plaque with the names of the last states that have acceded, namely Alaska and Hawaii, was added to the entrance of the memorial.

The Civil War ended in April 1865 and six days later Abraham Lincoln was shot fatally in the Ford's Theatre.

Two years after the assassination of President Lincoln, Congress established the Association for the Lincoln monument. Its purpose was to build a memorial in honor of the slain president.

In 1901 the site was chosen for the monument, and in 1911 President William Howard Taft signed the document, which provided two million dollars for the memorial.

Design is by New York architect Henry Bacon, who used as a basis for construction of a Greek temple with Doric columns made of marble.

Inside the building of the memorial statue is positioned Abraham Lincoln. The president is depicted seated, facing the Washington Monument.

The statue of the sixteenth president is very heavy – a whole one hundred seventy-five tons. The height of the statue is five meters eighty centimeters.

The statue of Lincoln is the work of Daniel Chester French and was originally supposed to be much smaller. But then the artist realized that it would look too small compared with the building and made it higher.

It is located on the west side of the National Mall. The memorial is often used for organized protests and political speeches. The most famous is the March of Washington in 1963, when Martin Luther King held the famous speech "I have a dream".

In the same room in which lies the statue of Lincoln, there are two huge stone slabs. On one plate is engraved with the text of the speech of President Lincoln, who celebrated the end of the war between North and South.

On the second plate is engraved his famous Gettysburg speech. These texts are a symbol of the principles of freedom, brotherhood, unity and justice.

Gettysburg speech is one of the most famous in the history of the United States. It was pronounced by Lincoln on November 19, 1863 at the opening of the soldier's national cemetery in Gettysburg.

The famous Gettysburg speech begins thus: "Eighty years ago, our fathers have created on this continent a new nation, founded in the spirit of freedom and true to the principles that all men are created equal ..."