On November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln delivered a significant speech that reminded the nation about human principles. Around this time there were social and political conflict among the nation and people were losing support in Lincoln and the Republicans. The riots prior to the Gettysburg Address in response to the new Congressional draft laws were a setback for Lincoln. The Copperhead movement led people to criticize Lincoln’s efforts with the war. While it appears that Lincoln’s speech was an imitation of an earlier political speech written by Pericles, Lincoln was able to deliver an influential statement about human principles. When the Union troops won the Battle of Gettysburg local authorities sought to dedicate a portion of a land to the fallen soldiers. The Civil War had reached its turning point and November of 1863 Lincoln was asked to provide appropriate remarks to the public for support. Lincoln made his message clear, that the United States was one country and not an association of state governments (Duvall 2013). Although Lincoln was not the lead orator that day, his two minute speech following Edward Everett…show more content… Pericles, a leader 2,300 years earlier, delivered a speech during the mourning for a great war (Duvall 2013). In his speech Pericles reminded the Athenians why democracy was essential for the nation (Duvall 2013). It appears that Lincoln had recreated a similar speech reminding the people how Republican values unite the nation as a whole. Some people even believe Lincoln’s speech was a disappointment and written hastily during his train ride to Gettysburg, but he had begun creating his speech before the trip (“The Gettysburg,” n.d). Lincoln had developed smallpox on the day of the address, but despite his illness, he was able to stay strong and deliver his crafted