The commonly counted text of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 271 words.
Lincoln delivered the speech on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The ceremony followed the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3 during the American Civil War.
Its brevity became part of its reputation. Lincoln spoke for less than two minutes, following a much longer oration by Edward Everett. Despite its short length, the address connected the war to the Declaration of Independence and argued that the conflict tested whether a government based on popular liberty could endure.
Word counts can vary slightly depending on how editors treat hyphenated terms, names, and punctuation. The figure of 271 is the standard count associated with the accepted text. The address survives in several handwritten versions, including copies Lincoln prepared after the ceremony.