Why was the gettysburg address speech given and when??

From Wikianswers

It was given on November 19, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvsnia.

President Lincoln was the special guest of David Wills, the 32-year-old lawyer whose house faced the town square. Wills had invited Lincoln to give concluding "remarks" at the dedication ceremony, following the principal address by Edward Everett. Wills helped arrange the cemetery and its dedication on November 19, 1863, on land purchased by Pennsylvania to honor the dead.

Source: http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/sites/gettysburg.htm NANLIT 09:09, 23 May 2008 (UTC)