He was elected to the Illinois legislature several times. Later he was nominated for the Senate.

It was at this time that the country was divided against itself on the question of slavery.

Lincoln ran for Senator against Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas was the greatest speaker of that time.

Douglas and Lincoln met to debate the slavery question. Their speeches were

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

On January 1, 1863, two years after the war began, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all the slaves in the Confederate States, free. This in itself was one of the noblest deeds ever done.

Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. He took the oath of office in March, 1865.

The war ended early in April of that same year. The North had won and the Union was preserved.

President Lincoln was eager to bring the North and South together again, but that work was to be done by another.

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot and killed by an actor named Booth.

The death of the great leader threw the country into mourning. He had loved the North and South equally, and his loss was a great blow to all.

Lincoln's simple faith in justice and right, his wisdom, his love for his fellowman, his kindness to every creature, his honesty, and his truthfulness made him, not only an American hero, but the hero of all mankind.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

Where was Abraham Lincoln born?

When was he born? Tell of his boyhood.

To what states did his father move when Abraham was young?

How did Abraham educate himself?

Tell about the first book he bought.

What did Lincoln do when he became a man?

What state office did he hold?

For what office was he nominated later?

Why did he become so well known?

When was Lincoln chosen President?

What war was fought while Lincoln was President?

What great document did he issue during the Civil War?

Was he re-elected to office?

When did the Civil War end? What happened soon afterwards? Why was his death a special loss to the nation just at this time? What work was he needed to do?

What were the qualities possessed by Lincoln which made him the friend of all mankind?

LESSON XXIV

LINCOLN'S ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG

The greatest and most terrible battle of the Civil War was fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

So many soldiers lost their lives that thousands of dead lay on the field.

Here they were buried.

Later part of the battlefield

was dedicated as a national cemetery.

At the dedication exercises President Lincoln made a short speech. It was only a few words, and it took scarcely five minutes to say. Yet this speech will long be remembered as the earnest, simple words of a great and tender man.

Read it carefully, for it shows the heart of the speaker.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final restingplace for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget

what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; - and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

Write the story of Lincoln, telling what the Gettysburg address means to you.

LESSON XXV

U. S. GRANT

What do the first two letters in the above name stand for?

U. S. stands for United States. U. S. stands for Uncle Sam. U. S. stands for "unconditional surrender."

They also stand for Ulysses Simpson, which was part of the name of one of the greatest generals America has ever known.

General Ulysses Simpson Grant led the Union armies to success in the Civil War.

He was born in Ohio, in 1822. His father owned a farm, and until he was seventeen years old. horses and learned all about them. used to good advantage later.

Ulysses worked on it
He was very fond of

This knowledge he

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating when he was twenty-one.

He was made a second lieutenant in the army, and was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.

He soon saw active duty, for the Mexican war broke out. Although a young man, his courage and bravery attracted attention, and he was promoted to the rank of captain.

Soon after the war he resigned from the army and became a farmer. He was not very successful at farming, and went into the real estate business.

Later he became a clerk in a store in Illinois. He was working there when the Civil War broke out in 1861.

Grant was now nearly forty years old and almost unknown. At the end of the Civil War, four years later, his name was known all over the world.

As soon as the news spread that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, Grant rejoined the army.

He was made colonel of an Illinois regiment. It was said that when he appeared before his soldiers he had no uniform. He was in no way distinguished or impressive in appearance.

Yet, his first words, "Men, go to your quarters," made the soldiers at once feel the force and strength of his character.

Grant's first success was the capture of two strong forts of the Confederates in Tennessee.

The Confederate commander sent a message asking Grant what terms he would give. Grant replied, "No terms except unconditional surrender."