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Abraham Lincoln and Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863) The president was invited to participate in the ceremony for the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, according to Judge David Wills letter to Abraham Lincoln, November 2, 1863. There are five known drafts (Nicolay copy, Hay Draft, Everett Copy, Bancroft Copy, and Bliss Copy) of this famous speech that drew inspiration from the Declaration of Independence proposition ‘all men are created equal.’ The next day Edward Everett (speaker at the ceremony) noted Lincoln’s “eloquent simplicity & appropriateness” to state the central idea of the occasion in merely two minutes. The Nicolay Copy (John Niclolay, principle secretary) is believed to be a working draft. The Hay Draft (John Hay, secretary), probably written by Lincoln after he was back in Washington included numerous changes in words and punctuation between these two drafts. Study of the changes show Lincoln’s thinking (LOC.gov).