Adult ESL Lessons: Abraham Lincoln (Advanced)

This is Lesson 26, “Abraham Lincoln,” from our collection of advanced adult ESL lessons. The lesson features a reading passage about Abraham Lincoln, followed by comprehension questions and discussion questions. This content-packed lesson is useful for helping more advanced English learners refine and improve their English fluency. This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many other ESL lessons for adults like this one in our book ESL Pathways: Frontiers.

ADULT ESL LESSONS: Abraham Lincoln (Text-Only Version)

• What do you know about the American Civil War?
• Who was Abraham Lincoln?  
• What do you know about Lincoln?
• What is slavery?  What did Lincoln do about slavery?
• Was your childhood easy or hard?  Why?
• Have you ever moved to a new place?  Where?
• Would you rather work on a farm or study?  Why?

Read about Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States.  He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809.  Lincoln’s childhood was not easy.  His father was a farmer and had to work hard to earn a living.  When Abraham was 7, the family moved to southern Indiana.  Abraham had gone to school briefly in Kentucky and did so again in Indiana.  In 1818 Lincoln’s mother died from milk sickness, a disease from drinking the milk of cows that had grazed on poisonous grass.  Thomas Lincoln remarried the next year, and Abraham loved his new stepmother.

As Abraham grew up, he loved to read and preferred learning to working in the fields. This caused difficulty in his relationship with his father who was just the opposite.  The Lincolns moved again to Illinois and Abraham worked several jobs there.  He managed a store, surveyed land, and served as a postmaster.  He was well liked by the local people he earned the nickname “Honest Abe.”  

In 1860 Lincoln was elected president and he soon faced the greatest internal crisis U.S. President has ever faced:  the American Civil War.  Lincoln raised an army and decided to fight to stop the Union from falling apart.  His goal was to preserve the Union.  As the war dragged on, Lincoln had to find a new goal.  There were rumors that the Civil War could escalate into an international conflict if it continued.  Lincoln’s worst fear was that the British would side with the South.  Lincoln then decided to change his original war goal.  He had always opposed slavery and on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was introduced.  This was Lincoln’s declaration of freedom for all slaves in the United States.  Lincoln won re-election in 1864, the Union defeated the South, and the Civil War finally war ended in 1865.  The North were the victors.

On April 14, 1865, the Lincolns attended a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.  During the performance John Wilkes Booth arrived at the theater and shot the president in the back of the head.  Lincoln died the next morning.  This was the first presidential assassination in American history, and the nation mourned its leader. His death was the result of the deep divisions and hatreds of the times.

Abraham Lincoln is remembered for his vital role as the leader in preserving the Union during the Civil War and beginning the process that led to the end of slavery in the United States.  He is also remembered for his character, his speeches, and as a man of humble origins whose determination led him to America’s highest political office.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Where was Abraham Lincoln born?
2. How old was Abraham when the family moved to southern Indiana?
3. How did Abraham’s mother die?
4. What did Abraham love to do when he was growing up?
5. What jobs did Abraham have in Illinois?
6. What was his nickname?
7. What crisis did Abraham face after he was elected president?
8. What was Lincoln’s original war goal?
9. Why did Lincoln change this goal?
10. What was the Emancipation Proclamation?
11. When was Lincoln re-elected?
12. When did the Civil War end?
13. Which side were the victors?
14. What happened on April 14, 1865?
15. Where is Ford’s Theater?
16. How is Abraham Lincoln remembered?

Discussion Questions:

1. Racial discrimination was, and continues to be, a problem in the United States.  Does racial discrimination exist in your country?
2. What other kinds of discrimination are there?  What kinds of people are generally discriminated against?  Why?
3. What do you think about slavery?  Why?  Is slavery fair or unfair?  Why?

4. Lincoln is known as a person of humble origins whose determination led him to the nation’s highest office.  Is there anyone in your country like this?
5. Lincoln’s face is on the US five dollar bill and the one-cent coin.  What pictures are on the coins and bills in your country?

6. Lincoln’s nickname was “Honest Abe”.  Why do you think he had this nickname?
7. Do you have a nickname?  What is it?  Why do people call you by this nickname?
8. Are you an honest person?  Give an example.
9. Lincoln’s family moved a lot when he was young.  Has your family ever moved?  Where?  Do you think moving was a good thing or not for your family?  Why?
10. People move to new places for many different reasons.  How many can you think of?  Make a list.

11. Say something optimistic about moving to a new city.
12. Say something pessimistic about moving to a new city.
13. Say something optimistic about moving to a new country.
14. Say something pessimistic about moving to a new country.

15. Lincoln was assassinated.  Why do people assassinate other people?
16. Which other famous people have been assassinated?