That’s debatable, actually. There was evidence implicating him in the conspiracy, but I don’t know how reliable it was.
Without reference to materials or other posts (warning, this is going to be bad).
Grew up in a log cabin.
When a young man, he got a child and dipped their feet in soot and, being tall, assisted the child to leave footprints up the wall and across the ceiling of his log cabin, to the mystification of the people who later returned (don’t ask me where I heard that).
::Long passage of time::
Made the Gettysburg address, which starts “Four score years and ten…”, about which I really don’t know much else.
Became president.
Signed the Emancipation Declaration, albeit with a little-known caveat that blacks and whites will never be able to live together in harmony.
When the Confederacy therefore seceded, raised Union troops to prevent such secession, thus participating in the Civil War.
Wore a stovepipe hat and had a beard.
Oh yeah, big one I forgot: assassinated at the opera by John Wilkies Booth.
“Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the opera?”
The doctor was named Mudd, wasn’t he? Isn’t that from where we get the phrase, “Your name will be mud”?
“Wore a hat, got shot.” That’s my favorite answer so far.
In all seriousness, I’m pretty impressed by how well many of you have done. Out of curiosity, how did you all learn this information? Was it taught in school, did you read about it on your own time, did you pick it up in bits and pieces from American TV, books and movies, or something else?
All of the above. Really, I have no idea when or where I first saw a picture of Lincoln, when or where I first heard of the Civil War or the Gettysburg Address or the Emancipation Proclamation, or when or where I first heard of John Wilkes Booth. It’s just stuff that I know, possibly learned by osmosis.
Australian, never been to America…
Lincoln to me = Stovepipe hat and beard. US President. Freed slaves, did that whole thingy with the emancipation proclamation and the gettysburg address. Assassinated in Ford’s theatre by John Wilkes Booth - may have survived, but the sawbones quacks of the time did more harm than good in their efforts to ‘treat’ his injury. Born in a log cabin. Had a small cameo role in the Red Dwarf episode “Meltdown” in season four. There’s a really, really huge statue of him sitting on a chair in Washington DC (I think).
I gleaned my (admittedly small) snippets of Lincoln knowledge from a range of sources. Books, TV shows (both factual and fiction), movies and generally just discussing things with people on messageboards etc.
As a public service, here is the entire text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address for our foreign friends. For some historical context, he gave this 2 minute speech on Nov. 19, 1863, during the dedication ceremony for a Union cemetary in Gettysburg, PA, the site of the deadliest battle of the war that previous July. In this speech, he tries (and succeeds) in explaining why all those who died have not died in vain. Enjoy.
BTW, “four score and seven years ago” is his poetic way of saying 87 years ago. 1863-87=1776. I am sure you all know the significance of that year in US history.
Can I just jump in and say I’m not really surprised a number of furriners have at least a half-dozen basic facts memorized about Lincoln? Impressive, really. But as my mother once related, when she was a child she met a Canadian student during some school function in the '50’s in which the Canadian girl said something along the lines of “We Canadians know more about American history than Americans.”
And based on aggregate American History scores in America, it seems this may be true 50 years later, as well. It’s a bit of a source of pride to know other country’s learn so much of our history as being important enough to know. However, it’s saddening that non-Americans could, on average, probably beat us in a US history quiz.
Anyway, with all that said, I’m wondering how Lincold is being sold as a “Jew lover”. I beg everyone to prevent a hijack with this question, but a few lines or links would be appreciated. I’ve never heard that angle. Yet, it may actually prove Lincoln to be one our top 5 Presidents.
And just for a bit of trivia, the stovepipe hat was used to store scraps of paper and other speeches. The GA was written on the back of an envelope. And I think the little told him he looked “gaunt”, not just “skinny”, hence the beard.
Anyway, enough of the history lesson. I don’t want to skew historical fact any more than I have here. 
Born in 1809 in Kentucky. Sixteenth President of the United States, and the first for the Republican Party. Married to Mary Todd. His election in a very split vote in 1860 was the final straw for some Southern states after years of various disagreements, mostly centred around slavery. He was re-elected in 1864. Lincoln’s term of office was pretty much entirely taken up by the subsequent Civil War, in which his steadfast leadership was instrumental in keeping the remaining Union fighting, eventually overwhelming the slave states. Was skilled at getting disparate parties to work together to win the war. Had some bad luck picking generals until the appointment of Grant.
Lincoln is probably most famous for the Gettysburg Address, a short speech he gave at the dedication of a national cemetery on the battlefield of Gettysburg, PA, the site of a massive and critical battle in 1863; and the Emancipation Proclamation, which began the legal process of ending slavery and which sapped the Confederacy of what foreign sympathy it was able to muster.
Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. He was succeeded by Andrew Johnson, his second Vice President, having dumped his first, Hannibal Hamlin, off the 1864 ticket.
Lincoln was famous for his style of speech, which was remarkably succinct and simplistic for its time, somewhat similar to the way a politician would have spoken in the mid-20th century; the usual public speech of the time was preposterously verbose and inflated.
I’ve heard it too; it was in my history book when I was in the fourth grade, about 25 years ago (in the US, I should specify). As I recall, the child was one of his younger brothers.
The story’s stuck with me all this time; this is the first time since then I’ve heard it.
I like history, even outside of school, so it’s something that would naturally attract my attention.
We learned very little American history in school. What we did learn tended to center around how doings in the US affected Canadian history: the War of 1812, “Fifty-four forty or fight,” “No truck nor trade with the Yankees,” and so on. Certainly, neither Lincoln nor the US Civil War was ever studied in my classes.
But we do get an amazing amount of US media spilling over the border. Magazines, newspapers, television–very nearly anything you can get in the US is also available here. If the media content mentions Lincoln, we’ll get it too. In addition, books of American history are readily available at the public library (as are the histories of many world nations, for that matter). Lincoln’s speeches are quotable enough that they occur in a wide variety of sources. Heck, when I taught adult night classes in writing skills, I used to use the Gettysburg Address as an example of good, clear, concise writing.
So I’d have to answer your question by saying that in my case, it was partly me learning about Lincoln on my own, plus a good amount of information learned from US media. It’s not difficult to find out about him if you really want to.
Isn’t he the guy who frayed the sleeves?
Wasn’t he in Police Squad?
I’m curious if anyone else remembers this.
It was before digital cable, so it must have been a long-standing channel, but not ready to go so far as saying it was PBS.
There was a story on Lincoln’s assassination where a guy approx 95 years old was a 5-year-old in Ford’s Thearter when Lincoln was shot. He was 94 or 95 and a small child at the theater the night Lincoln was shot.
This must (obviously) have been recorded in the '50’s or '60’s. I can’t remember what the show was, but the interview was shown on a purportedly legit show. Anyone know what interview I’m talking about?
Anyway, the guy said he was about 5 and remembered Boothe jumping from the balcony (when he broke his leg) and the guy said he felt concern for Boothe since he was in obvious pain while limping off stage.
Just curious if anyone knows who this guy was and can hook me up with a link.
duffer: According to Wikipedia, his name was Samuel Seymour and the show was called I’ve Got A Secret.
I’ve heard of the guy too, although I never saw him on I’ve Got A Secret. He was the last surviving eyewitness to the assassination, and I believe he died in the late 1950’s.
I attended up to the 7th grade in the States, but that was a long time ago. I’m going to reply without looking at the other replies first:
Lincoln, president before and during the Civil War. Assassinated by some guy names John Booth(?) in a theater, I think it was. Had a beard. Is known for being against slavery, but apparently it wasn’t only for moral reasons. Lived in Illinois… um, had a whole string of failures before finally being elected president (email glurge is where I learned this. Somehow I feel/remember that he’s connected to some speech that starts: “Four score and twenty years ago, our forefathers…” Some address? And is he the president that said “A house divided against itself cannot stand?”
That’s all I got.
On preview, I see this is called the Gettysburg Address.
Woithout reading the other replies, I know that he was a President, I think he’s on a coin, maybe the penny? (You guys have pennies, right?) He got shot in Ford’stheater by mumblemumble Booth… He was around during the civil war, signed the Emancipation Proclamation which abolished slavery and either began or ended the civil war, I don’t know which. All the images of him that I’ve seen feature a beard and a top-hat. Was he the model for the Uncle Sam icon?
Is he the one who lived in a log cabin? And did something to a cherry tree? Or was that George Washington?
I’m 22, from New Zealand.