The Gettysburg Address

 

The Gettysburg Address is a speech given by US President Abraham Lincoln on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after Union soldiers defeated Confederate armies in the Battle of Gettysburg. It is considered to be one of the most well-known addresses in American history.

Despite the fact that it was not the day's principal speech, Lincoln's meticulously planned address is regarded as one of the finest and most significant expressions of American national purpose. In just 271 words, Lincoln described the United States as a nation "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," making reference toward the signing of the Declaration of Independence 87 years prior, and portrayed the Civil War as a test which would decide whether such a nation, fractured by the secession crisis, could survive.

Despite the speech's significant position in American history and popular culture, its precise phrasing is contested. The five known copies of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address differ in several points, as well as from contemporary newspaper editions of the address. The location of the platform from where Lincoln gave his address is also unknown. The speakers' platform was moved 40 yards (or more) away from the customary location at Soldiers' National Cemetery at the Soldiers' National Monument, and was wholly contained within the private, neighboring Evergreen Cemetery, according to modern research.