Abraham Lincoln was born in a poor family in Kentucky on February 12， 1809. When he was a small boy， his family moved to the frontier of Indiana. Here， his mother taught him to read and write. Lincoln had very little formal education， but he became one of the best-educated men of the Great West.
When Lincoln was a young man his family moved to the new state of Illinois. Lincohn had to earn a living at an early age， but in his leisure time he studied law. He soon became one of the best-known lawyers in the state capital at Springfield， Illinois. It was here that Lincoln became famous for his debates with Stephen Douglas on the subject of slavery.
In 1860， Lincoln was elected President of the United States. He was the candidate of the new Republican Party. This party opposed① the creation of new slave states. Soon after his election， some of the Southern states withdrew② from the Union and set up the Confederate States of America. This action brought on the terrible Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
On January 1， 1863， during the war， Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamnation. In this document， Lincoln proclaimed③ that all the slaves in the seceding④ states were to be free from that date. In 1865， after the war ended， the Thirteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution of the United States. This amendment⑤ put an end to slavery everywhere in the United States.
Early in 1865， the Civil War came to an end with the defeat of the South by the North. Only a few days after the end of the war， Lincoln was shot by an actor named John Wilkes Booth and died on April 14，1865.
① opposev. 反对，反抗，妨碍
② withdrawv. 撤离，退出
③ proclaimv. 宣告，公布，声明
④ secedev. 退出，脱离，分离
⑤ amendmentn. 改正，修正，改善(议案等的)修正案
亚伯拉罕·林肯
亚伯拉罕·林肯于1809年2月12日出生在肯塔基州一个清贫的农民家庭中。当他还非常年幼的时候，全家搬迁到印第安纳州的边远地带。在那里，母亲教他学习。林肯受过很少正规教育，然而，他却成了大西部受过最好教育的人之一。
当林肯年轻的时候，他家搬到新建的伊利诺斯州。从很小的时期开始，他就得自谋生计，但是，在闲暇时间，他自学法律。不久，他就成为了伊利诺斯州的中心城镇斯普莱菲尔德上的最知名律师之一。就是在那里，林肯由于和斯蒂芬·道格拉斯在关于奴隶问题上的争论而变得出名。
1860年，林肯被选举为美国的总统。他是新共和党的候选人。这个党派反对产生新的奴隶州。就在他当选后不久，南方的一些州镇脱离了美国，创建了美利坚联盟国。这一举动引发了一场巨大规模的内战，这场战场从1861年持续到了1865年。
在1863年1月1日，内战期间，林肯颁布了他最为著名的《奴隶解放宣言》。在宣言中，林肯宣布所有脱离联邦各州的奴隶从即日起予以解放。1865年，内战结束以后，《第十三条修正案》又被增补进了美国的宪法中。这次增补结束了美国各地的奴隶制度。
1865年初，内战以北方战胜南方而结束。但是仅仅就在战争结束后的不久，林肯就遭一个叫做约翰·维克尔·布斯的演员枪击暗杀而亡。1865年4月14日去世。
