Who Was Abraham Lincoln? Part 2

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Inspirational people who accomplished great things are often remembered by their words.

Lincoln was one of those great people who is often quoted as saying some of the most inspirational, insightful, and most-remembered words in American history. Here is a sampling of some of his famous quotations.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

Choose your favorite quotation, and copy it down. (Be sure to copy it word-for-word because it is a quotation!) Then, write a paragraph about why it is your favorite. Be sure to explain your thinking.

• Did this quote likely change the way the American people thought of Mr. Lincoln?
• Does it affect how you feel about him or change the way you perceived him from the historical facts you already knew?

Share your thoughts with someone and ask if they recognize any of the above quotes.

In this second part of the series, you will focus more on the man who was president and the events that shaped his time in office (and him as a person).

Add to the list of facts you started in Part 1 of this series, found under Related Lessons in the right-hand sidebar, as you watch the videos below.

As you can see, President Lincoln was an interesting man with a complex story to tell. It makes you wonder if his interesting life and entertaining facts help to make him one of history's favorite presidents.

Let's see if your facts line up with those in the Got It? section. Check it out!