USA From Lincoln to Obama History Culture Civilisation

USA From Lincoln to Obama History Culture Civilisation Quizzes Exercises Listening and Reading

WHO AM I ? I lived in the XIXth century

Do you know what we are called? • We were built in…… • You will see us if you come to …… • We are : ……

The Washington Monument • The Washington Monument is an obelisk-shaped building in Washington, D. C. that was built to honor the first President of the United States of America, George Washington. This 555 -foot-tall obelisk is the tallest building in the District of Columbia - by law, no other building in D. C. is allowed to be taller. • District of Columbia (Washington, D. C. ) is the capital city of the USA. The White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and many other government buildings are located in Washington, D. C.

The Lincoln Memorial • The Lincoln Memorial commemorates the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16 th President of the United States. It is located in Potomac Park, Washington, D. C. • The Lincoln Memorial was designed by Henry Bacon; the style is that of a Greek Doric temple with 36 enormous columns. Inside the building is a huge statue of a sitting Lincoln. Over Lincoln's head is the inscription: • • • "IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER. " • Also in the Memorial are two murals, and stone engravings of Lincoln's second inaugural address and the Gettysburg Address.

"IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER. " • Statue of Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address • Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. • Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. • But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. • ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address Where , When and Why ? Give a synonym for the word ‘Address’ • Lincoln's Address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, November 19, 1863. • On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. • Lincoln had been invited to gave a "few appropriate remarks" during a ceremony to dedicate a cemetery for Union soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. Despite its brevity and the fact that it earned little attention at the time, the Gettysburg Address is considered one of Lincoln's greatest speeches. • http: //grammar. about. com/od/classicessays/a/dreamspeech. htm

Where can you admire this statue of Lincoln ? • It can be seen at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C of course.

TIMELINE • 1779: Daniel Boone brings Abraham Lincoln's grandmother and grandfather to settle in Kentucky • 1809: Abraham Lincoln is born in Kentucky, the US bans the import of slaves • 1842: Lincoln marries Mary Todd • 1857: Dred Scott Supreme Court decision - slaves do not have the right to bring a case to court and cannot be citizens • 1861: Abraham Lincoln becomes President of the US; the Civil War starts • 1863: Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863) and gives the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 1863) • 1864: Lincoln was re-elected President of the US • 1865: The Civil War ends; Lincoln is assassinated; the 13 th amendment to the Constitution abolishes slavery

QUESTIONS/TIMELINE • • • 1. In which state was Lincoln born? --------------2. Who did Lincoln marry? --------------------3. When did the Civil War start? ----------------------- • 4. When did Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address? ----------------------- • 5. In what year did the Civil War end and Lincoln die? ------------------------

QUIZ 1 Vice-President Civil assassinated slavery Southern Abe Johnson 1865 play freeing Grant 16 th Kentucky President Address re-elected Northern Confederacy log Todd • Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was the _________ President of the United States of America. • He served as President from March 4, 1861, until April 15, 1865 (he was re-elected in 1864). • Lincoln's __________ was Andrew Johnson (1808 -1875). • Abraham Lincoln was born in a ________cabin in ____________________. • He had very little formal schooling. He eventually became a lawyer and a Republican politician. Lincoln earned the nickname "Honest ______. " • He married Mary ________ in 1842.

QUIZ 2 Vice-President Civil assassinated slavery Southern Abe Johnson 1865 play freeing Grant 16 th Kentucky President Address re-elected Northern Confederacy log Todd • During Lincoln's presidency, the _____________ states seceded from (left) the Union because Lincoln and the Northern states were against ____________. • Six weeks after becoming President, the ________War began. • In this war, the ________states (which stayed in the Union) fought the Southern states (called the ____________). • The Civil War lasted from 1861 until _____________.

QUIZ 3 Vice-President Civil assassinated slavery Southern Abe Johnson 1865 play freeing Grant 16 th Kentucky President Address re-elected Northern Confederacy log Todd • On Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually led to the _______________ of all slaves in the USA. • During the Civil War, Lincoln gave many speeches, including the Gettysburg ______________(Nov. 1863), a short speech in which he stated how a country must be dedicated to human freedom in order to survive. • Lincoln was _____________ President in 1864.

QUIZ 4 Vice-President Civil assassinated slavery Southern Abe Johnson 1865 play freeing Grant 16 th Kentucky President Address re-elected Northern Confederacy log Todd • General Robert E. Lee (from the Confederacy) surrendered to General Ulysses S. __________ (from the Union) on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War. • Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth (an actor). Lincoln had been attending a _____________ at Ford's Theater in Washington, D. C. • Lincoln died the next morning. He was the first US president ever ____________________. • Andrew ____________________ (Lincoln's Vice-President) became the next US ___________.

Comment on the pictures below

What would you like to say about the picture? • Picture 1

What would you like to say about this picture? • Picture 2

What would you like to say about this picture? http: //www. americanrhetoric. com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop. htm http: //www. drmartinlutherkingjr. com/ivebeentothemountaintop. htm • Picture 4

What would you like to sat about this picture? • Picture 3

What would you like to say about this picture? • Picture 4

Look at the picture and react • President Barack Obama rests his hand on President Lincoln's Inaugural Bible, held by his wife, Michelle Obama, as he takes the oath of office at the U. S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

From President Lincoln to President Obama http: //grammar. about. com/od/classicessays/a/obamainaugural. htm

Next: • A quiz. • Another story to read and listen to.

Reading Quiz: "The Gettysburg Address, " by Abraham Lincoln. • Characterized as both a prose poem and a prayer, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is a concise rhetorical masterwork. After reading the speech, take this short quiz. • Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. . We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. • •

1 -2 1 Lincoln's short speech begins, famously, with the words "Four score and seven years ago. " (The word score comes from an Old Norwegian word meaning "twenty. ") What famous document does Lincoln allude to in the first sentence of his speech? (A) The Declaration of Independence (B) The Articles of Confederation (C) Constitution of the Confederate States of America (D) The United States Constitution (E) Emancipation Proclamation 2 In the second sentence of his address, Lincoln repeats the verb conceived. What is the literal meaning of conceive? (A) to bring to an end, close (B) to overcome the distrust or animosity of; to appease (C) to be of interest or importance to (D) to become pregnant (with offspring) (E) to keep from being seen, found, or discovered

3 -4 3 In the second sentence of his address, Lincoln refers to "that nation. " Which nation is he talking about? (A) the Confederate States of America (B) the Northern States of America (C) the United States of America (D) Great Britain (E) Union States of America 4 “ We are met, " Lincoln says in line three, "on a great battlefield of that war. " What is the name of that battlefield? (A) Antietam (B) Harpers Ferry (C) Manassas (D) Chickamauga (E) Gettysburg

5 -6 5 A tricolon is a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. In which of the following lines does Lincoln employ a tricolon? (A) "We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. " (B) "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. " (C) "This we may, in all propriety do. " (D) "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here. " (E) "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. “ 6 This ground, Lincoln says, has been "hallowed" by the "men. . . who struggled here. " What is the meaning of hallowed? (A) empty, containing a deep space (B) soaked in blood (C) consecrated, highly venerated (D) desecrated, violated (E) greeted in a warm and friendly manner. .

7 -8 7 Parallelism is a rhetorical term meaning "similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. " In which of the following sentences does Lincoln use parallelism? (A) "This we may, in all propriety do. " (B) "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here. " (C) "We are met on a great battlefield of that war. " (D) "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. " (E) Both B and D 8 Lincoln repeats several key words in his short address. Which one of the following words does not appear more than once? (A) dedicated (B) nation (C) freedom (D) dead (E) living

9 -10 9 The phrase "birth of freedom" in the final line of Lincoln's address calls to mind which similar phrase in the first sentence of the speech? (A) "all men are created equal" (B) "conceived in liberty" (C) "Four score and seven years ago" (D) "dedicated to the proposition" (E) "upon this continent“ 10 Epiphora is a rhetorical term meaning "the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of several clauses. " In what portion of the long final sentence of "The Gettysburg Address" does Lincoln use epiphora? (A) "It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated" (B) "we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us" (C) "that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause" (D) "we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain" (E) "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish"

ANSWERS • 1+A 2+D 3+C 4+E 5+E • 6+C 7+E 8+C 9+B 10+E

Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address Still Inspires Schoolchildren By Adam Phillips Washington 17 November 2002 (source: VOA) http: //www. voanews. com/mediaassets/english/2002_11/Audio/rm/phillips_gettysburg_08 nov 02. rm • On November 19, 1863, when the American Civil War was in its third year, President Abraham Lincoln gave his now-immortal Gettysburg Address. The purpose of that speech was to commemorate and solemnize a part of the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, battlefield where more than 50, 000 men, soldiers of the North and the South, had been killed in three days of fighting that many consider the turning point in the war. However, in that brief speech, the president also set forth a vision of democracy and national purpose that has inspired Americans of all ages ever since. Recently, a sixth grade teacher in Washington, D. C. , brought his class to the Lincoln Memorial, where the 11 -year-olds recited the Gettysburg Address. As Adam Phillips tells us, they had been memorizing and pondering those words since the school year began in September.

Part 1 • On a blustery November day, George Penny's sixth grade class stood on the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. , took a collective deep breath, and prepared to utter what many believe to be the finest speech in American history.

Part 2 • Mr. Penny says he spent a long time helping his students understand the deceptively simple 269 words of Lincoln's speech. • "The Gettysburg Address is, first, a definition of our democratic form of government. . It is a cornerstone of our mythology, " he explained. And I do spend a lot of time with the children paraphrasing each sentence and discuss in the meaning of it and putting it in historical context. And they aren't just saying beautiful words, but they are saying beautiful words that they understand.

Part 3 Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. . We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Part 4 • Like his classmates, Sean Mc. Evor worked hard to memorize and understand these words. • "I think it is basically about remembering one of the most famous speeches ever about one of the worst things that could happen, " he said. "The Civil War was really a horrible war, and the Battle of Gettysburg was, I think, the worst part of it. So many people died in so little time. And the country was fighting itself, which isn't a good thing. "

Part 5 • Several parents accompanied their children to the Memorial in support of the project. • "I think that at this time, it's so pertinent for them to understand that, although the speech was given a long time ago, it really applies to all the people who fight for our country, explained Wilma Williams. "And that freedom is absolutely a gift that we have and we have to keep it at all costs. . And I think that children should not forget that. "

Part 6 • "If [my son] Jake could come away with one thing, " added Bryan Jordan, "I would like it would be the knowledge of how the men who fought and died at Gettysburg, how much they gave and their willingness to give, which is what Lincoln says. • But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

Part 7 • Ten-year-old Jeremy Gwinner says he loved working on this project. • "I like the sentence, really. 'That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom. '. . . I think it means that this country under God will be reunited and that slaves will be freed. . I really admire [Lincoln] because he led the country through the Civil War, and he said that no matter what the cost is, I'll bring this nation together. • That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

That’s all!

• • • Pictures and Documents from the Internet. . VOA … Enchanted Learning …. Wikipedia… About. com …