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The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest and gruesome battles of the Civil War, ending with almost 50,000 deaths. Abraham Lincoln was invited to come to Gettysburg to dedicate and honor the soldiers who had fallen. Lincoln saw this as an opportunity to show the significance of war and to get the support of the governor of Pennsylvania for his future campaign. His short few words became known as the Gettysburg address, and has now been recognized has one of the most important speeches of American History. In the speech he showed the importance of equality and freedom described in the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln’s purpose was to connect equality to democracy, but in a time when the nation was so spilt it was not received as it was meant. The audience took what they wanted to hear and ignored the rest. It wasn’t until later when the nation was more unified with equality did the true nature of Lincoln’s speech come out. On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln addressed the small crowd with one of the shortest speeches in history, talking fewer than two minuets. Lincoln said that the Civil War was a test to see if the nation could survive or if it would soon fall. The reaction to the Gettysburg address was somewhat split with some saying it was heartfelt and true and others saying it wasn’t enough to honor those who had died. The Gettysburg Address is said to open up the discussion about inequality within America. Lamon, a close confident of Abraham Lincoln reported that after the speech Lincoln said he should of prepared with better care. The silence during the speech and the lack of reaction afterwards made Lincoln feel as is if the speech was not received well by the audience. Lamon says that the Gettysburg address was not taken well by the audience or the people of the United States, and wasn’t recognized as being great until after Lincoln’s death. The Gettysburg address has became an important part of American history; it is what started the road to equality. Many people have quoted it, including Martin Luther King Jr., to show how far we have come today. Now there are only 5 known copies of the address in Lincoln’s handwriting, a few were written for solders, and one was the original. All five are different from each other and also different from the newspaper printings of the speech so there is controversy on the when and how it was written. Many believe that Lincoln wrote the short speech on the train on his way to Gettysburg, but Lincoln was known for carefully preparing speeches in advance. The train ride would have been very rocky with lots of movement making almost impossible for anyone to read or write anyways. Peatman, Jared. The Long Shadow of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2013. Project MUSE. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. ./ref>  Coco, Gregory A. A Strange and Blighted Land: Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1995. Print. /ref>