The speech famously begins with `` Four score and seven years ago '' , referring to the American Revolution in 1776 . Lincoln used the ceremony at Gettysburg to encourage the people to help America 's democracy , so that the `` government of the people , by the people , for the people , shall not perish ( be destroyed ) from the earth '' . Beginning with the now-iconic phrase `` Four score and seven years ago , '' referring to the American Revolution of 1776 , Lincoln examined the founding principles of the United States in the context of the Civil War , and used the ceremony at Gettysburg as an opportunity not only to consecrate the grounds of a cemetery , but also to exhort the listeners to ensure the survival of America 's representative democracy , that the `` government of the people , by the people , for the people , shall not perish from the earth . ''