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PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 9 UNIT 1 Abraham Lincoln 1 Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents the USA has ever had. he was an extraordinary man : both humble and ambitious .plodding and piercingly intelligent. his charity ,courtesy and integrity gained the respect. there are many reasons for Lincolns popularity. his career reflected common American belief or dream that everyone could become rich .successful through hard work with all his intelligence and ability. on February 12,1809, Abraham Lincoln came to the world in a log cabin beside Nolin creek, in an inland state, Kentucky. his father, Thomas, was a cheerful, sociable, obstinate petty farmer who scraped an uncertain living from the Kentucky impoverished soil. in 1818, his mother, Nancy Lincoln, died from tuberculosis. without Nancy , shack life soon became chaotic, sordid and miserable, after a year, Thomas married a widow called sally. Sally was as good as a mother to Abraham as his real one had been. although she was illiterate, she understood her stepsons odd ways. she accepted the brooding silences that contrasted so strongly with the jokes that poured out of him when he was in mood .supported by Sally, Abraham read all kinds of transcriptions lent .but hed spent no more than a year in classroom. most of his time, he helped his father fell trees and seed crops. sometimes he came to the brook nearby ,watching the dews on the broom, listening the cuckoo or larks. for aught he knew what his future was like .but really he didnt want to reconcile himself to the drudgery. in the spring of 1831, he left home. after several migrations, Abraham, taking his baggage tied by elastic bands, settled down in new Salem and joined the local debating society, at first, its other members mocked at their new recruit , but then they realized the austere young man in amber suit turned out to be an inborn speaker. for the first time, Lincoln showed his eminent aptitude for eloquence . in 1834 ,he stood for election to t