Ranking #5 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript Context.  In December 1859, Abraham Lincoln drafted his first extensive autobiographical narrative, a roughly 600-word sketch prepared at the request of an old friend and Republican newspaper …

Autobiographical Sketch (December 20, 1859) Read more »

Ranking #18 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript Context.  Abraham Lincoln was twenty-three-years-old and working as a clerk in a store in the small village of New Salem, Illinois (situated about 20 miles north of …

First Campaign Statement (March 9, 1832) Read more »

Contributing editors for this page include Lisa Staup Ranking #48 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript “Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, then in Hardin, now in the more recently formed county of Larue, …

Autobiography Written for John Scripps (June 1, 1860) Read more »

Ranking #80 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript “Man is not the only animal who labors; but he is the only one who improves his workmanship. This improvement, he effects by Discoveries, and Inventions.” On …

First Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions (April 6, 1858) Read more »

Ranking #131 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript “Some of Shakspeare’s plays I have never read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any unprofessional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard …

Letter to James Hackett (August 17, 1863) Read more »