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Today we're going to learn about
the American President, Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth
president of the United States,

was born February 12, 
1809, in Kentucky.

His father was a farmer
and his family was very poor,

living in a small, 
one-room log cabin.

While Lincoln was still very young,
his family moved to Indiana,

and then again
to Illinois.

He only went to school for one year,
but he loved books and learning,

and taught himself 
as much as he could.

When he was 22 years old, Abraham Lincoln
left home to work at a general store.

It was there that he got
his nickname, "Honest Abe."

Once a customer accidentally
over paid by a few pennies,

and that night
when the store closed,

Abraham Lincoln walked for miles
to take the money back.

In 1832 Lincoln
ran in an election

to become a member of the Illinois
State Legislature, but he lost.

After that he served 
as a Captain in the Army,

and then he started working
as a lawyer, and got married.

In 1846 he was elected to 
the US House of Representatives.

In 1860, 
he ran for President.

It was a difficult time
in the United States.

The North and the South
disagreed on a lot of things,

and it was getting
worse.

One thing they disagreed 
on was slavery.

The Northern states 
did not want any more slavery.

The Southern states
wanted to keep their slaves.

Abraham Lincoln 
did not like slavery, either.

He was elected President because 
he had the support of the Northern states.

He had almost no support
from the Southern states.

As soon as
he became President,

southern states began
seceding from the Union.

That means they decided they didn't want
to be a part of the United States anymore.

President Lincoln was determined
to keep the country together,

and in 1861 
a war started.

It was the Civil War, a terrible,
bloody war that lasted four years.

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln
signed the Emancipation Proclamation,

an order that freed all the slaves
in the southern states.

A few years later, he helped to pass
the 13th amendment to the Constitution,

which made slavery illegal 
everywhere in the United States.

The Civil War finally 
ended on April 9, 1865.

President Lincoln wanted
to put the country back together,

and help 
the South rebuild.

Unfortunately, he did not
live to see that happen.

Less than a week after
the end of the Civil War,

Lincoln and his wife were watching a play
at the Ford Theater in Washington DC

when he was shot in the head 
by a man named John Wilkes Booth.

Abraham Lincoln died 
the next morning, on April 15, 1865.

He was the first American
President to be assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln
once said,

"I want it said of me 
by those who knew me best that

I always plucked a thistle
and planted a flower

where I thought 
a flower would grow."

He is widely considered to be
one of the greatest presidents

in American
history.

His leadership 
during the Civil War

and his defense of human
liberty make him an American hero.

His face is on pennies 
and five-dollar bills,

he was included 
in Mount Rushmore,

and a memorial for him 
stands in Washington, DC.

I hope you enjoyed learning about 
Abraham Lincoln. Goodbye till next time!