HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

Gettysburg Address

Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

Nearby, Nov. 19, 1863, in dedicating the National Cemetery, Abraham Lincoln gave the address which he had written in Washington and revised after his arrival at Gettysburg the evening of November 18.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

Near this spot on November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln rose to dedicate the new National Cemetery for the Union dead of the Battle of Gettysburg. In barely two minutes he delivered the address he had drafted in Washington and revised the night before, redefining the war as a struggle for a nation "conceived in liberty" and a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." The few hundred words spoken here became one of the most consequential speeches in American history.

Why it matters

The Gettysburg Address reframed the Civil War as a test of democracy itself, and its words still define how Americans understand their nation's purpose.

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Related people

  • · Abraham Lincoln

Related events

  • · Gettysburg Address
  • · Dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery

Themes & tags

Civil WarPresidential SitesMemorial

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Lincoln Address Memorial

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This monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery grounds commemorates Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863, about 300 yards away during the cemetery's dedication. In barely two minutes and 272 words, Lincoln recast the war as a test of whether a nation 'conceived in liberty' could endure, and rededicated the living to 'a new birth of freedom.' The actual spot of the speech is marked nearby by the Soldiers' National Monument.

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