1 00:00:02,670 --> 00:00:05,493 You're watching FreeSchool! 2 00:00:08,313 --> 00:00:13,731 Today we're going to learn about the American President, Abraham Lincoln. 3 00:00:14,728 --> 00:00:19,190 Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, 4 00:00:19,190 --> 00:00:24,130 was born February 12, 1809, in Kentucky. 5 00:00:24,130 --> 00:00:27,630 His father was a farmer and his family was very poor, 6 00:00:27,630 --> 00:00:31,849 living in a small, one-room log cabin. 7 00:00:31,909 --> 00:00:35,370 While Lincoln was still very young, his family moved to Indiana, 8 00:00:35,370 --> 00:00:38,285 and then again to Illinois. 9 00:00:38,370 --> 00:00:42,500 He only went to school for one year, but he loved books and learning, 10 00:00:42,500 --> 00:00:46,023 and taught himself as much as he could. 11 00:00:46,414 --> 00:00:51,940 When he was 22 years old, Abraham Lincoln left home to work at a general store. 12 00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:55,950 It was there that he got his nickname, "Honest Abe." 13 00:00:55,950 --> 00:00:59,449 Once a customer accidentally over paid by a few pennies, 14 00:00:59,449 --> 00:01:01,899 and that night when the store closed, 15 00:01:01,899 --> 00:01:06,312 Abraham Lincoln walked for miles to take the money back. 16 00:01:07,284 --> 00:01:10,939 In 1832 Lincoln ran in an election 17 00:01:10,939 --> 00:01:15,179 to become a member of the Illinois State Legislature, but he lost. 18 00:01:15,179 --> 00:01:18,019 After that he served as a Captain in the Army, 19 00:01:18,019 --> 00:01:21,900 and then he started working as a lawyer, and got married. 20 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:26,840 In 1846 he was elected to the US House of Representatives. 21 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,694 In 1860, he ran for President. 22 00:01:31,359 --> 00:01:34,119 It was a difficult time in the United States. 23 00:01:34,119 --> 00:01:36,600 The North and the South disagreed on a lot of things, 24 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,580 and it was getting worse. 25 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:41,920 One thing they disagreed on was slavery. 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,250 The Northern states did not want any more slavery. 27 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:48,090 The Southern states wanted to keep their slaves. 28 00:01:48,090 --> 00:01:51,039 Abraham Lincoln did not like slavery, either. 29 00:01:51,039 --> 00:01:55,019 He was elected President because he had the support of the Northern states. 30 00:01:55,019 --> 00:01:59,029 He had almost no support from the Southern states. 31 00:01:59,029 --> 00:02:00,820 As soon as he became President, 32 00:02:00,820 --> 00:02:04,410 southern states began seceding from the Union. 33 00:02:04,410 --> 00:02:09,659 That means they decided they didn't want to be a part of the United States anymore. 34 00:02:09,659 --> 00:02:12,910 President Lincoln was determined to keep the country together, 35 00:02:12,910 --> 00:02:17,400 and in 1861 a war started. 36 00:02:17,630 --> 00:02:24,307 It was the Civil War, a terrible, bloody war that lasted four years. 37 00:02:24,307 --> 00:02:31,610 On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, 38 00:02:31,610 --> 00:02:35,710 an order that freed all the slaves in the southern states. 39 00:02:35,710 --> 00:02:40,450 A few years later, he helped to pass the 13th amendment to the Constitution, 40 00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:45,139 which made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States. 41 00:02:45,139 --> 00:02:50,400 The Civil War finally ended on April 9, 1865. 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,455 President Lincoln wanted to put the country back together, 43 00:02:53,455 --> 00:02:56,065 and help the South rebuild. 44 00:02:56,065 --> 00:03:00,853 Unfortunately, he did not live to see that happen. 45 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,520 Less than a week after the end of the Civil War, 46 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:09,489 Lincoln and his wife were watching a play at the Ford Theater in Washington DC 47 00:03:09,489 --> 00:03:14,460 when he was shot in the head by a man named John Wilkes Booth. 48 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:20,820 Abraham Lincoln died the next morning, on April 15, 1865. 49 00:03:20,820 --> 00:03:25,503 He was the first American President to be assassinated. 50 00:03:26,020 --> 00:03:28,160 Abraham Lincoln once said, 51 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,650 "I want it said of me by those who knew me best that 52 00:03:31,650 --> 00:03:34,490 I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower 53 00:03:34,490 --> 00:03:37,454 where I thought a flower would grow." 54 00:03:37,454 --> 00:03:40,229 He is widely considered to be one of the greatest presidents 55 00:03:40,229 --> 00:03:42,089 in American history. 56 00:03:42,089 --> 00:03:44,329 His leadership during the Civil War 57 00:03:44,329 --> 00:03:48,499 and his defense of human liberty make him an American hero. 58 00:03:48,499 --> 00:03:51,920 His face is on pennies and five-dollar bills, 59 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,190 he was included in Mount Rushmore, 60 00:03:54,190 --> 00:03:58,526 and a memorial for him stands in Washington, DC. 61 00:03:58,603 --> 00:04:04,433 I hope you enjoyed learning about Abraham Lincoln. Goodbye till next time!