Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

====Gettysburg Address (1863)====
{{Main|Gettysburg Address}}
[[File:Gettysburg_Address_in_the_Lincoln_Memorial.JPG|alt=Text of the Gettysburg Address|thumb|Gettysburg Address engraved in the [[Lincoln Memorial]]]]
Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863.{{sfn|Donald|1996|pp=453–460}} In 272 words, taking only three minutes, Lincoln asserted that the nation was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". He defined the war as dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality for all. He declared that the deaths of so many soldiers would not be in vain, that the future of democracy would be assured, and that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".{{sfnm|Donald|1996|1pp=460–466|Wills|2012|2pp=20, 27, 105, 146}} The Address became the most quoted speech in American history.{{sfn|Bulla|Borchard|2010|p=222}}

After victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Lincoln proclaimed a national [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving holiday]], to be celebrated on the 26th, the final Thursday of November 1863.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=471}}