The True Story Behind Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago...

So begins one of the most important speeches in the history of the United States: Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. On a cold November day, during the deadliest war America had ever known, President Lincoln addressed a few people. It wasn't much of a speech, really—just a few remarks. Not meant to be remembered.

But this speech has been remembered. Why? What was the true meaning behind it? Where did it come from? Why has it become so important that we never forget what President Lincoln said on that cold November day during the Civil War?