Final answer:
The soldiers who fought at Gettysburg consecrated the ground with their sacrifice beyond what any attendees could do, as addressed by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address.
Step-by-step explanation:
Those who fought at Gettysburg, as referenced in Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, gave their lives in order to ensure that the nation would live, that freedom would be upheld, and that equality for all would be guaranteed. Lincoln conveyed that the gathered crowd could not dedicate the ground any more than the brave soldiers already had with their ultimate sacrifice. Their actions consecrated the battlefield far beyond the power of the attendees' words. Thus, the purpose of the gathering was to take increased devotion to the cause for which these soldiers gave their last full measure of devotion, ensuring that the nation would have a new birth of freedom, and so that government of the people, by the people, for the people would not perish.