"Fourscore 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."

In 1863, as Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, the United States was fighting a great civil war to decide what this proposition truly meant. Between 1861 and 1865 Americans made war on each other. The Civil War becomes for America the most important time period in our American history. As historian Shelby Foote states, "It is the crossroads of our being." Are we to be a country that is truly free, or are we going to continue to enslave and discriminate against an entire race of people?

Slavery, since the birth of our new nation, had been a snake coiled up and ready to strike. By the 1850s it had become impossible to keep the balance between the southern slave states and the northern free states. Kansas was the center of this heated struggle earning the nickname of "Bleeding Kansas." Southerners believed they had the right to decide the issue of slavery for themselves. This idea of states’ rights led southern states to secede from the union as Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. Finally on April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and the Civil War had officially started.

What truly makes the Civil War the most important time period in American history is how it changed America forever. What started as a war to preserve the union for the north became much more Sept. 22, 1862. On this day in history, President Abraham Lincoln issued "The Emancipation Proclamation," freeing all the slaves in the Confederate States. To make this a reality the Union army must now win the war. The turning point of the Civil War was the battle of Gettysburg, which started on July 1st and ended July 3rd of 1863 in a great Union victory. When President Lincoln helped dedicate the new Union cemetery, he stated "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 American Civil War brought out the best and worst in many Americans. Some of our greatest leaders of all-time became famous for their efforts during this remarkable time. President Abraham Lincoln, who led the Union government, is considered by most historians to be the greatest president in American history. Lincoln knew that all men were created equal and gave his life in making this a reality. The Confederate Army had one of the most beloved generals in American history, Robert E. Lee. Before the war started President Lincoln offered Lee the command of the entire Union army, but Lee turned Lincoln down because he could not fight against his home state of Virginia.

How can a great civil war in which 600,000 Americans lose their lives be the greatest time period in American history? It is because America emerged from the war for independence with Great Britain with the institution of slavery still intact. In order to rid this great country of this terrible evil, it was crucial that so many would be willing to pay such a tremendous price. That sacrifice allowed for a new birth of freedom in which all men are created equal and sets the United States on a course to become the greatest democratic country in the world -- where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not just mere dreams, but reality.

"I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore." These are words from a song written by Helen Reddy in 1974. The 1970s, a decade of change, a decade of women. Many people think of the 1970s as bell-bottom pants, long hair, Vietnam and Watergate. But when I look back at the 1970s, I see a great time in American History because changes were being made at that time that have had a great impact on my life. It was the decade of the women’s movement, also known as the feminist movement. A feminist is a woman who demands the same rights as men. The feminist movement tried to end discrimination against women and to allow them the same opportunity to go beyond their traditional roles.

Pauline Fredrick, an American broadcast journalist was once quoted saying, "When a man gets up to speak, people listen then look. When a woman gets up, people look; then if they like what they see, then they listen." The women of the 1970s were trying to change that. It had been 50 years since women had won the right to vote and they were once again finding strength to change their lives.

Of all the women that were active in the feminist movement in the 1970s, Gloria Steinem was probably the most popular. She worked for New York Magazine as a staff commentator and was a very skillful writer. However, no one would let her write on women’s rights issues. So, in 1971 she gathered enough support and money and started her own magazine. The magazine was called Ms. Magazine. The magazine was owned by women and truthfully reported about job discrimination and roles of women. It was a huge success and in just a little over a week the entire first edition was sold out. This told the world that women wanted a change.

The women of the 1970s worked very hard to make their cause known. They held rallies, marches, and sit-ins! They wanted equality in education and in the workplace. They wanted women to have the same choices and freedoms that men were given. This fight wasn’t going to be easy, but women around the country were coming together to work for what they believed strongly in, and because of this their struggles have been our successes.

Women in sports for example. We now have professional women’s sports. The WNBA with great female athletes like Jackie Stiles and Lisa Leslie, and who could forget the 1997 Women’s Olympic soccer team with Mia Hamm?

Education for women has also changed. Because of the efforts of the women in the 1970s, I have choices about what I learn. I am not limited to only learning how to cook and sew; I can choose any subject, like welding, diesel mechanics, even nuclear engineering. Where I get my education is also my choice. I can attend a military academy, which 30 years ago was unheard of.

The role of women in politics has also changed a great deal in the past 30 years. Women have been increasing in local government, state government and national government. Just recently Condoleezza Rice was chosen as our secretary of state. Not only is she a woman but an African American woman. The doors have been opened and the possibilities are endless.

Change is good. Choices are good. I can play football, enroll in military school, be the CEO of a big company, or run for any political office, thanks to the women in the 1970s that started things moving.

Many people may think that the changes brought about in the 1970s actually caused more bad than good. For me, a young woman of the 21st century, they have been good because I’ve never known what it was like to have limitations. Because of the women who fought for equal rights, I can be anything I want to be! So, as I look into the future, way into the future, maybe on January 20, not only will I be celebrating my birthday, but also my inauguration -- President Brooke Catherine Dechant. Hey, it could happen!

"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."

These words you just heard are the beginning of the document that started our new nation. This document is the basis and foundation of our country. This document is the Constitution of the United States of America.

Our Constitution is the oldest constitution still in action in the world today. May 25th, 1787, was the first time a constitution had ever been written. No other country in the world had one, not even Great Britain.

This genius document was created at the state house in Pennsylvania, now called Independence Hall, the same place that the Declaration of lndependence was created. The Constitutional convention was attended by 55 delegates from 12 states. George Washington was president of the convention along with attendants Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, just to name a few. The delegates were sent only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the previous form of government that governed the colonists.

Under the Articles of Confederation the national government had no power to enforce laws or interpret them with a court system. The government could declare war or raise an army but couldn’t force the states to supply troops or ammunition. The Articles also allowed states to print their own money, which caused major problems because they printed off too much paper money that no one would use and causing the nation great debt. Seeing these major flaws, they decided to create an entirely new document. This document would make a stronger national government and would allow them to collect taxes, bringing the nation out of its debt.

The convention lasted 16 weeks, a total of four months! Leading to many disagreements and times when nothing was accomplished, because no resolution could be found. After much argument the Constitution was passed on September 12, 1787. Only nine out of the 13 states had to approve of the new Constitution, and as a way to speed up the process the new government promised to make a Bill of Rights to protect the colonists’ interests. On June 21, 1788, the ninth state approved the Constitution and in 1791 the Bill of Rights was added. The Bill of Rights is probably the most important part of our Constitution, it allows us the freedoms that we use every day and most of us take for granted.

How many of you read the newspaper this morning, or watched the news last night? This was made possible by the first amendment. How many of you went to church this Easter or any other Sunday? This was also made possible by the first amendment. Did any of you go hunting last fall? This would not be possible without the second amendment. So the next time you use one of these freedoms or "Rights" we use every day in our lives, I want you to think about the 55 men who spent four months in a small crowded building trying to create the best possible form of government for our new nation, and in doing so created a government that has lasted for more than 200 years.

"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."