The Gettysburg Address: The Gettysburg Address is considered one of the greatest and most quoted speeches of a President throughout American history. President Abraham Lincoln gave his address on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19th, 1863. It was a few months after the battle at Gettysburg was over, the purpose of Lincoln being there was to consecrate a cemetery to the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. It is believed that Lincoln's main goal of this opportunity was to fight for the United States as a united country and to express the equality of all under the law.