Question

“we are met on a great battlefield of that war. we have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting - place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. but in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. the brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. the world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” —abraham lincoln the gettysburg address november 19, 1863 consecrate means to make or declare sacred. hallow means to make or declare holy. why, in lincoln’s view, is it not possible for the crowd to consecrate or hallow the cemetery? the people gathered there did not have enough power to hallow the ground to do so would dishonor the dead the ground had already been hallowed by the sacrifice of the dead

Explanation:

Lincoln states that the brave men, living and dead who struggled at the battlefield have consecrated it far above what the crowd can do. The sacrifice of the dead has already hallowed the ground.

Answer:

The ground had already been hallowed by the sacrifice of the dead