There are several copies of the Gettysburg Address that show that Lincoln made changes to the text. The following is a transcript of Lincoln’s speech as it appears on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

The Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery (now called the Gettysburg National Cemetery) at Gettysburg, PA. The dedication of the cemetery was an important opportunity for the President to honor those who had given their lives during the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg, from July 1-3, 1863, was one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Many historians consider the battle one of the turning points of the war. The Union North and Confederate South lost more than 7,000 men during the three-day conflict. Over 45,000 were wounded, and more than 10,000 were captured or missing. The cemetery was planned as the final resting place for more than 3,500 Union soldiers who lost their lives at Gettysburg. When Lincoln gave his historic speech in 1863, it was only a few months after the devastating Civil War battle. Today, more than 7,000 soldiers from all America’s major wars are buried there.

Lesson Plan from the American Association of School Librarians:
Ben's Guide—The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address begins with the words, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln's statement refers first to the year 1776; a score is 20 years so “four score and seven years ago” would be 87 years prior to the dedication. He then speaks of “a new nation, conceived in liberty,” which is a reference to the Articles of the Confederation and the Constitution.

In his speech, Lincoln said that the United States would continue to fight so that the whole world could enjoy freedom and equality. At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, the text of the Gettysburg Address is carved into one of the walls beside the statue of President Lincoln. Two draft versions are preserved at the Library of Congress and can be viewed online.