This speech redefined the civil war and articulated a vision of a united and free nation.

Abraham Lincoln’s iconic Gettysburg Address was delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Address's poignant call for national unity and the promise of a "new birth of freedom" resonates as deeply today as it did in 1863.

Full Context

On November 19, 1863, just over four months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln was invited to speak at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This battle was one of the bloodiest in the war and is often considered a turning point because it halted the advance of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army into the North.

The Gettysburg Address is remarkably brief—just 272 words—and lasted only a few minutes. Despite its brevity, the speech poignantly emphasized the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as not merely a struggle for the Union, but as a new birth of freedom that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant.

At the time of the address, the war was far from over, and Lincoln was weary from both the war's toll on the country and personal tragedies, including the death of his son Willie in 1862. The address reflected both the severity of the prolonged conflict and a leader's plea for the sacrifices made to be seen as part of a larger purpose of justice and democracy.

The speech is famous for its language and moral force; the beginning "Four score and seven years ago" refers to the 87 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, framing the Civil War as a test whether any nation so conceived could long endure. Lincoln’s address concluded with a resolve that the dead at Gettysburg would not have died in vain, that the nation would 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 immediate reaction to the speech was mixed, overshadowed in part by Edward Everett's two-hour oration which preceded Lincoln’s few minutes of remarks. However, in time, the Gettysburg Address has come to be recognized as one of the finest examples of effective communication in American history, embodying succinctness, power, and depth of meaning. It has become a staple of history and rhetoric classes across America, often memorized by students and cited as one of the profound articulations of democratic values.

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