Gettysburg Address: The Gettysburg address is one of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speeches. He gave the Gettysburg address at the dedication ceremony for the National Cemetery of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. At the dedication ceremony he was not the key speaker but his speech became one of the most remembered speeches in American history. Edward Everett was actually the key speaker at the ceremony and Lincoln was given an invitation to speak only two weeks before the ceremony. Lincoln saw this opportunity to speak as a way to address the people of America about the significance of the Civil War. There is a rumor that he wrote the address on the train to Pennsylvania. At the ceremony for the dedication of the cemetery, Everett spoke for about 2 hours and then an orchestra played a hymn that was composed solely for the ceremony by B.B French. Lincoln's speech was less than two minutes long and was only 272 words. Although the speech was very short it made a huge impact on people and was remembered and written about in the newspapers at the time. In it he spoke about keeping the Union together in order to honor the sacrifices made by those who had died in the war. It is still one of the most famous speeches in U.S history.
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/gettysburg-address
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http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/gettysburg-address
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