This speech was given after the battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The funny part about the Gettysburg address was that it was compared by the press at the time to another speech by the great orator Edward Everett (who spoke for two hours)immediately before Lincoln. Lincoln was ridiculed by the papers. It now is the most famous speech in American History and not many can remember what Everett even said. It still gives me chills when I read it. Hopefully it is legible here after reduction to 800 pixels