The Gettysburg Address
November 19, 2018
On Nov. 19, 1863, 155 years ago today, United States President Abraham Lincoln gave a short speech during the American Civil War (1861-1865) at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. He delivered the address at ceremonies to dedicate a part of the battlefield as a cemetery for those who had lost their lives in the battle. Lincoln wrote the address to help ensure that the battle would be seen as a great Union triumph and to define for the people of the Northern States the purpose in fighting the war. Some historians think his simple and inspired words, which are among the best remembered in American history, reshaped the nation by defining it as one people dedicated to one principle—that of equality.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on Nov. 19, 1863, 155 years ago today, at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Credit: Library of Congress
Lincoln wrote five different versions of the speech. He wrote most of the first version in Washington, D.C., and probably completed it at Gettysburg. He probably wrote the second version at Gettysburg on the evening before he delivered his address. He held this second version in his hand during the address. But he made several changes as he spoke. The most important change was to add the phrase “under God” after the word “nation” in the last sentence. Lincoln also added that phrase to the three versions of the address that he wrote after the ceremonies at Gettysburg.
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This first page of a draft of the Gettysburg Address is part of an exhibit at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Credit: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division/National Archives
Lincoln wrote the final version of the address—the fifth written version—in 1864. This version also differed somewhat from the speech he actually gave, but it was the only copy he signed. It is carved on a stone plaque in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
