What was the main purpose of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?

• A. To declare independence from Britain.
• B. Committed to preserving the union, ending the war.
• C. To begin the American Revolution.
• D. To outline the Great Compromise.

Answer: (B)

The main idea of the Gettysburg Address is reinforcing why the Civil War mattered: to protect the United States as a nation and to keep the Union intact. Lincoln spoke at the dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery after the Battle of Gettysburg and reminded listeners that the war was a test of whether a country founded on liberty could endure. He framed the struggle as a fight to preserve a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and pledged that the living must continue the work of those who fought there, so that liberty and union would endure.

That makes the best answer about committing to preserving the Union and ending the war, rather than about independence from Britain, starting the American Revolution, or outlining the Great Compromise, which are not the themes of this speech.