The Gettysburg Address.....?

Question

What was the name of the orator who spoke just before President Lincoln? How long was his speech? How long was President Lincoln's speech? What was the opening line of President Lincoln's speech? . If you can't remember the answers, look them up. "Cut and paste answers" won't be considered for points. That is SO lazy.

Answer 1

You asked who spoke first and that would be Edward Everett a politician from Massachusetts. His speech lasted for two hours (that must have been sight)

Lincolns "famous" speech began with "Four score and seven years ago" It was ten sentences long or 272 words (very short compared to today's presidents)

Answer 2

At the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg, Edward Everrett, who had been an important Whig politician from Massachusetts and the most popular orator of the day, was asked to give the main oration. As all expected (he had already released his text to the press) he spoke for a bit over two hours (2 hrs and 8 minutes, according to Ronald White) and was well-received.
(Here is the text - http://douglassarchives.org/ever_b21.htm )

Lincoln, who gave very few speeches outside Washington, and had only been asked two weeks before (sort of an afterthought), was asked to give a few brief remarks at the end of the ceremony. His speech, beginning "For score and seven years ago. . . " lasted not much more than two minutes. (This was a bit briefer than expected, but not "shocking", since he was NOT asked to make a long speech.)


An attempt at a more precise estimate --

According to Ronald White's estimates, Lincoln's normal rate of speech for public speaking was 105-110 words per minute --- deliberately slower than a speaker would today because of the lack of audio technology. At that rate, the 272-word address** would last somewhere between 2:28 and 2:35. (This is slightly slower than an audio version I found that clocks at 2:22 --about 115 wpm -- probably because it didn't share Lincoln's technological limitations!)

** The exact wording of the speech is debated. Lincoln was in the habit of revising until the last minute, and so records of the speech vary slightly, but not significantly in word-count or time.

Answer 3

I don't know the name of the man who spoke before Lincoln, but i know he spoke for about 1-2 hours. Lincoln's was only 2 mintues, which shocked the audience. The opening line is " Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth a new nation."