Gettysburg (United States) (AFP) - The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's undying call for a "new birth of freedom" at the bloody turning point of the US Civil War, turned 150 years old Tuesday, even as the union he fought to preserve quarrels bitterly over the role of government. Thousands of people bundled up against the autumn chill -- some in Civil War era uniform -- crowded into the Soldiers' National Cemetery where Lincoln delivered the 272 words that became one of the most revered speeches in US history. The crowd burst into cheers and applause when 21 new US citizens were sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Embroiled in a fight to save his signature health reform, Barack Obama, the country's first African American president, stayed away from the ceremony but a taped message from him was played to the new citizens.