ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A Good Citizen of the United States
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by
those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
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Abe was born in
Kentucky in 1809 to a
poor family of farmers.
They grew their own
food and made their
own clothes and tools.
The children helped take
care of the farm. As a
young boy, Abe had to
plow the fields, carry
water, chop wood, and
plant and harvest corn.
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by
those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
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The total time Abe spent in
school was less than a year.
He loved school, but he could
only go in the winters because
there wasn’t much to do on the
farm. Most of what Abe
learned he had to teach
himself by reading books.
He loved to read and to learn
new things. People would
often see him working in the
fields and reading a book at
the same time!
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by
those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
Before Abe decided to become a
lawyer, he started a store with a
friend of his. They borrowed a lot
of money from the bank to start
their store. Shortly after the store
opened, Abe's friend died. Abe
couldn’t keep the store open, but
he didn’t have enough money to
pay the bank back. Abe worked
for 15 years doing lots of
different jobs to pay back the
bank.
What Do You Think?
What new information did you learn about from
this slide?
What quality do you think was being
demonstrated here?
Hard Work
Abraham Lincoln has to work hard his whole life.
He worked hard to get an education. He worked
hard to make an honest living.
How does hard work make you a good citizen?
"I haven't been caught lying yet, and I don't mean to be."
– Abraham Lincoln
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As a young man, Abraham Lincoln worked as a general
store clerk. One evening he was counting the money in the
drawers after closing and found that he was a few cents
over what should have been in the drawer. When he
realized that he had accidentally short-changed a customer
earlier that day, Lincoln walked a long distance to return the
money to the customer.
On another occasion Lincoln discovered that he had given a
woman too little tea for her money. He put what he owed
her in a package and personally delivered it to the woman-who never realized that she was not given the proper
amount of tea until Lincoln showed up at her doorstep!
"I haven't been caught lying yet, and I don't mean to be."
– Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was a great lawyer
and helped out a lot of people.
One time where Abe was defending
a client in court. He had someone
get up to testify that his client was
innocent, but the person lied about
what happened. Abraham Lincoln
was the only one who knew the
man testifying had lied so he stood
up and said: “Gentlemen, I
depended on this witness to clear
my client. He has lied. I ask that no
attention be paid to his testimony.
Let his words be stricken out, if my
case fails. I do not wish to win in
this way.”
Once a man paid Abe twenty-five dollars for his
services, but Lincoln sent him back ten of it, saying
he was being too generous.
What Do You Think?
What new information did you learn about from
this slide?
What quality do you think was being
demonstrated here?
Honesty
Abraham Lincoln has many nicknames, but the
most famous one is “Honest Abe”
How does being honest make you a good
citizen?
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
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When Abraham Lincoln first became
president, a lot of people knew he
didn’t like slavery. They thought he
would try to make slavery illegal
right away. Some states said they
would make their own country if he
freed the slaves.
Abraham Lincoln knew it was
important to keep the country
united. So he decided it wasn’t right
for him to free the slaves without
trying to compromise with the slave
owners.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Abe initially proposed
to buy slaves from the
slave owners to make
all people free, but
the slave owners did
not like this idea.
Instead the states with
the slave owners broke
apart from the United
States to form their
own country.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Abraham Lincoln knew
that unless the United
States could stay
together, there would
always be fighting. So
he entered into the Civil
War to try to get the
states that left to come
back. It was a long war,
but after 5 years it was
over, and the United
States were united
again.
What Do You Think?
What new information did you learn about from
this slide?
What quality do you think was being
demonstrated here?
Peace and Unity
Abraham Lincoln fought to keep the United
States together. He wanted peace and unity
between all the members of our nation.
How can trying to keep peace and unity make
you a good citizen?
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln’s parents
both thought that slavery was
wrong. They didn’t think it
was right treat people poorly
just because their skin was a
different color. So the family
moved from the state of
Kentucky to another state
that made slavery illegal.
Because of this Abraham Lincoln’s first impression of
slavery was that it was something to flee from
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
– Abraham Lincoln
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When Abraham Lincoln
became president the Civil
War started. The war was
between the states that
wanted to keep slavery
and the states that wanted
to make slavery against the
law. Abraham Lincoln had
hoped to free the slaves
peacefully, but he realized
that the only way to end
slavery would be through
war.
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
– Abraham Lincoln
After three years of war,
on January 1, 1863,
Abraham Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation.
This proclamation declared
that “all persons held as
slaves are and
henceforward shall be
free.” There was still a lot
more Abraham Lincoln had
to do to free the slaves, but
this was a great start.
What Do You Think?
What new information did you learn about from
this slide?
What quality do you think was being
demonstrated here?
Equality
Abraham Lincoln believed that people should be
treated equally. He fought hard to end slavery
because he knew it was wrong.
How can treating people equally make you a
good citizen?