The Gettysburg Address, delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, is one of the most revered and enduring speeches in American history. It begins with the solemn and poetic phrase, “Four score and seven years ago,” referring to the 87 years that had passed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The term “score,” an old-fashioned word meaning twenty years, evokes a biblical tone that elevates the speech’s moral gravity and historical depth. By invoking the nation’s founding moment, Lincoln connected the sacrifices of the Civil War to the original principles of liberty, equality, and democratic government.

In just a few brief minutes, Lincoln redefined the meaning of the war—not merely as a struggle to preserve the Union, but as a test of whether a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” could long endure. He honored the fallen soldiers at Gettysburg not just for their bravery, but for their role in ensuring that the United States would experience a “new birth of freedom.” Ultimately, the Gettysburg Address reaffirmed the nation’s founding ideals and challenged all Americans to carry forward the unfinished work of democracy, so that “government of the people, shall not perish from earth”.