(Nov. 19, 1863) Speech by Pres.
Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of a cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., for those killed at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War . The main address was delivered by the renowned orator Edward Everett (17941865) and lasted two hours. Lincoln's brief speech, honouring the Union dead and the principles of democracy and equality they died for, lasted two minutes. Soon recognized as an extraordinary piece of prose poetry, it remains one of the most famous speeches ever delivered in the U.S.