- Lincoln gave a speech at Gettysburg in November 1863 after the Battle of Gettysburg to dedicate a portion of the battlefield as a cemetery for those who died in the battle. - In the speech, Lincoln redefined the purpose of the Civil War as a struggle to preserve the Union and bring new birth of freedom to ensure the nation conceived in liberty would long endure. - Lincoln called on those present and all Americans to be dedicated to advancing the unfinished work of preserving the Union and ensuring the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.