150 years ago yesterday, 19th November 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave the celebrated Gettysburg Address at the Soldier’s National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after the decisive three-day battle on 1-3 July 1863 in which around 50,000 participants were casualties.
It took him just three minutes to deliver the 270 words’ dedication to the fallen of the Union side.
He wrote the address on the train from Washington and delivered it while suffering from the early stages of mild smallpox.
From its opening lines: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…”, to its final lines: “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”, its succinct, powerful message secured its place as one of the most famous political speeches ever.
Source: Wikipedia