Understanding the Primary Text 1. Why does Lincoln begin his eulogy to the soldiers buried at Gettysburg with a reference to "Four score and seven years ago"? Because 87 years ago was the Declaration of Independence, it was to remind them/you of what they're fighting for, which is freedom. 2. Why does Lincoln at Gettysburg call human equality a "proposition," meaning something that needs to be proven? Because not everyone is free, it's an idea but it needs to be proven that all men are created equally. 3. What does Lincoln mean by calling the Civil War a test of the ability of the nation to "long endure"? If they can survive this civil war and still stay as a union, they will stay a union.