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The cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863. The main speaker for the event was [[Edward Everett]], one of the nation’s foremost orators. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] was also invited to speak “as Chief Executive of the nation, formally [to] set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks.” At the ceremony, Everett spoke for more than 2 hours; Lincoln spoke for 2 minutes.

The cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863. The main speaker for the event was [[Edward Everett]], one of the nation’s foremost orators. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] was also invited to speak “as Chief Executive of the nation, formally [to] set apart these grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate remarks.” At the ceremony, Everett spoke for more than 2 hours; Lincoln spoke for 2 minutes.

President Lincoln had given his brief speech a lot of thought. He saw meaning in the fact that the Union victory at Gettysburg coincided with the nation’s birthday; but rather than focus on the specific battle in his remarks, he wanted to present a broad statement about the larger significance of the war. He invoked the Declaration of Independence, and its principles of liberty and equality, and he spoke of “a new birth of freedom” for the nation. In his brief address, he continued to reshape the aims of the war for the American people—transforming it from a war for Union to a war for Union and freedom. Although Lincoln expressed disappointment in the speech initially, it has come to be regarded as one of the most elegant and eloquent speeches in U.S. history.  

President Lincoln had given his brief speech a lot of thought. He saw meaning in the fact that the Union victory at Gettysburg coincided with the nation’s birthday; but rather than focus on the specific battle in his remarks, he wanted to present a broad statement about the larger significance of the war. He invoked the Declaration of Independence, and its principles of liberty and equality, and he spoke of “a new birth of freedom” for the nation. In his brief address, he continued to reshape the aims of the war for the American people—transforming it from a war for Union to a war for Union and freedom. Although Lincoln expressed disappointment in the speech initially, and it was poorly received nationally (The ''Chicago Times'' commented that "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances") it has since come to be regarded as one of the most elegant and eloquent speeches in U.S. history.<ref>Bill Bryson, Made in America (London 1994) p96</ref>

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{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=36][http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gadrft.html]}}

{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=36][http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gadrft.html]}}

[[Category:United States History]][[Category:American Civil War]][[Category:American State Papers]]

[[Category:United States History]][[Category:American Civil War]][[Category:American State Papers]]