On this episode of Our American Stories, in November 1863, Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just months after one of the bloodiest battles in American history. What he saw there, the devastation, the loss, and the sacrifice, would shape the words he was about to deliver. At just 269 words, the Gettysburg Address would go on to become one of the most famous speeches in history. But at the time, it was largely overlooked and even criticized.

Our host, Lee Habeeb, shares the story behind the Gettysburg Address, how Lincoln redefined the Civil War as a fight not just to preserve the Union but to advance the principle that all men are created equal, and why those few words continue to shape America today.

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