Final answer:
Lincoln stated that the gathering at Gettysburg was to dedicate the battlefield as a resting place for those who died, to honor their sacrifice for the Union and equality.
Step-by-step explanation:
Abraham Lincoln stated that people were gathered at Gettysburg to dedicate a portion of the battlefield as a final resting place for those who died there, doing so to honor their sacrifice and to ensure that their deaths were not in vain. The ceremony was intended to commemorate the soldiers' commitment to the cause of the Union and the principles of freedom and equality. Lincoln's address at the dedication ceremony, delivered on November 19, 1863, is famously known as the Gettysburg Address and reaffirmed the purpose of the Civil War and the values upon which the nation was founded. Lincoln proclaimed that the Union soldiers at Gettysburg died not only to preserve the Union but also to guarantee freedom and equality for all, suggesting a new birth of freedom and the continuation of democracy as "government of the people, by the people, for the people."