One of the meanings of the word "score" is "twenty". It's the same derivation as making a score (or notch) on a stick (or tally) to keep count. It comes from the Old Norse, as quite a few English words do. Scoru was the Middle English word for twenty.

Twenty is a natural number to keep count until. Notice that in many languages including English the numbering system changes at 10 and again at 20. That is, there are single words for the first ten numbers, then a mixture (teens) for the next ten, and then a regular system from twenty up. This could have come from our having ten fingers to count on, and perhaps even from our having 20 fingers and toes.

At any rate, Lincoln liked the sound of "Four score and seven" better than "Eighty seven" and he was right, as proven by our remembering that speech even today.

1776 is the official date of the founding of the United States of America as the Revolution began and the Declaration of Independence was written that year, although our current form of government started later. Lincoln's speech was 87 years later, as he so famously noted.
Source(s):
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-score.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1776
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/gettyb.asp
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/score

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A "score" is twenty years (I remember this from studying a lot of poetry at school!)

So, four score years and seven is 87 years :)
Source(s):
My own knowledge.

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