The Gettysburg Address: The Story Behind Lincoln’s Words

President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was a pivotal moment in American history, redefining the Civil War as a struggle for human equality. The speech was given on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where over 80,000 casualties occurred during the bloodiest battle of the war. Lincoln's address, lasting just 269 words, called for a new birth of freedom and a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, which would not perish from the earth.