Abraham Lincoln Works for Change Pages

Lincoln’s Childhood He grew up on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana. He was a pioneer who led a hard life. He worked many hours on the family farm. He attended very little school. He liked to read and borrowed lots of books.

Lincoln – The Young Man He moved with his family to Illinois. He served in the state legislature. He studied law and became a lawyer. He served in Congress in the 1840s. He was against the spread of slavery.

Lincoln and Slavery He did not think the government had the right to end all slavery in the country. He hoped that if slavery were not allowed to spread that one day it would die out. Lincoln joined the Republican party which was formed to fight the spread of slavery.

Lincoln – The Leader The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision led Lincoln to run for government office. In 1858 he ran for the U.S. Senate. He ran against Stephen Douglas who had written the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Lincoln vs. Douglas Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were complete opposites. Lincoln -tall and thin -wore plain, dark clothes -little schooling -not well known -powerful speaker Douglas -heavy, foot shorter -wore fine clothes -well educated -well known in America -already serving in the Senate -powerful speaker

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates In the summer of 1858, both men traveled around Illinois and debated questions that were important to voters. Huge crowds gathered to hear their views about slavery spreading West.

Lincoln’s Views The framers of the Constitution intended and expected slavery to end. He believed slavery was not a question to be decided by the states. It was a matter of right and wrong. Lincoln said slavery should not spread to the West.

Douglas’s Views Douglas believed that slavery was a question for each state to decide. He said that was what the country’s founders allowed. The Kansas-Nebraska Act also allowed voters to decide for themselves.

The Vote Stephen Douglas won the race for Senate. People around the country now knew who Abraham Lincoln was.