Explore Abraham Lincoln’s changing views toward slavery and racial equality through five of his key speeches: A House Divided (1858); his first and second inaugural addresses (1861, 1865); the Gettysburg Address (1863); and the speech on Reconstruction (1865). Use the two PDFs to help your students interpret and investigate the legacy of Lincoln’s presidency as seen in his public remarks. One PDF contains complete transcriptions of these five famous speeches; the other is a worksheet that facilitates student text analysis. You can use speeches at full length or have students focus on specific excerpts.

Download the transcript of Lincoln’s speeches.

Download the speech analysis worksheet.