Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Photographer attributions vary from unidentified (William Frassanito) to Mathew · Public domain · source
Title	Gettysburg Address
Speaker	Abraham Lincoln
Date	November 19, 1863
Location	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Occasion	Consecration of Soldiers' National Cemetery
Participants	Edward Everett; William H. Seward; David Wills
Published	1863 (newspapers); 1864 (printed copies)

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a brief 272-word speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The Address is contextualized by the campaigns of 1863, including engagements like the Battle of Antietam and the Siege of Vicksburg, and it reshaped public discourse about the Union, slavery, and national purpose. Its text exists in multiple manuscript versions and it has been analyzed alongside contemporary remarks by Edward Everett, reactions in newspapers such as the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and later memorialization at sites like the Lincoln Memorial.

Background and context

Abraham Lincoln, who had been elected as the 16th president in 1860 amid debates over the Missouri Compromise aftermath and the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, delivered the Address after the three-day Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), a clash involving the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia under generals including George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee. The ceremony was organized by local authorities including David Wills and attended by figures from the Lincoln administration such as William H. Seward and cabinet members aware of concurrent campaigns like the Vicksburg Campaign under Ulysses S. Grant. Earlier rhetorical traditions from figures like Daniel Webster and Henry Clay shaped expectations for funerary orations in the United States, while orators such as Edward Everett provided lengthy orations typical of the era. The national political context included the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln, pressure from abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, and the legislative environment shaped by the Thirteenth Amendment debates.

Text and versions

Scholars compare multiple manuscript copies penned by Lincoln—commonly labeled the "Nicolay" and "Hay" copies—against recollections printed in periodicals like the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Evening Star. The Nicolay copy, associated with Lincoln's private secretary John G. Nicolay, is often treated as the earliest draft; the Hay copy, linked to assistant secretary John Hay, shows textual variants mirrored in reports by journalists from the New York Tribune and the Boston Daily Advertiser. Other manuscript fragments and proofs circulated among printers and were later reproduced in volumes by historians like Bancroft and editors such as Roy P. Basler. Comparative textual criticism has involved figures like Ronald C. White, Garry Wills, and archival repositories including the Library of Congress and the National Archives.

Delivery and setting

The Address was delivered at the Soldiers' National Cemetery dedication near Gettysburg by a small platform within sight of the Gettysburg Battlefield, close to landmarks such as the Little Round Top and the Cemetery Ridge. The program featured a main speech by Edward Everett, who later corresponded with Lincoln about brevity and oratorical form; Lincoln followed with the short dedicatory remarks before crowds that included military leaders, government officials, and citizens from states like Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Contemporary accounts mention nearby units of the Pennsylvania Reserves and the presence of veterans from engagements like the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Weather, local transportation by rail via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and arrangements by municipal figures such as David Wills influenced the logistical context of the ceremony.

Immediate reception and press coverage

Immediate reactions varied across a partisan and regional press landscape that included the New York Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, the Cincinnati Daily Commercial, and the Chicago Tribune. Supportive Northern papers drew connections to Lincoln's earlier addresses and the Emancipation Proclamation while some Democratic-leaning outlets criticized tone or content; Southern newspapers such as the Richmond Enquirer and the Charleston Mercury treated the event within continued Confederate perspectives. Commentators including Horace Greeley and editors like Thurlow Weed weighed in, and correspondence from military figures including James Longstreet and Winfield Scott Hancock later reflected on the speech’s resonance. Speeches by contemporaries, reprints in abolitionist organs like The Liberator, and republication in collections such as the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln extended circulation and shaped public memory.

Historical significance and legacy

The Address quickly became emblematic in debates about union, liberty, and national purpose and has been invoked in subsequent civic and political contexts including dedications at the Lincoln Memorial designed by Henry Bacon and featuring a carving by Gutzon Borglum at other sites. Historians such as Doris Kearns Goodwin, Harry Jaffa, James M. McPherson, and Eric Foner have situated the speech within narratives of American constitutional development, emancipation, and republicanism. The Address influenced memorial culture associated with battlefields like Antietam National Battlefield and institutions such as the National Park Service, and it has been taught in schools alongside documents like the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Commemorations range from philatelic issues by the United States Postal Service to portrayals in films about Lincoln directed by Steven Spielberg, scholarly editions by The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, and legal citations in twentieth-century decisions interpreting civil rights and equal protection under amendments such as the Fourteenth Amendment.

Category:Speeches by Abraham Lincoln