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Presidents of the United States
 Lincoln (Part 1)

Lincoln (Part 1)
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.47

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    rails, highly, wintertime, government, lawyer, humorous, chopping, especially, wife, died, settle, difficult, strength, born, jobs, being
     content words:    Abraham Lincoln, Ohio River, Young Abraham, In March, New Orleans, New Salem, General Assembly

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Lincoln (Part 1)   
1     Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on the American frontier when it was being settled? Abraham Lincoln did. He was born in Kentucky in 1809, where his father had a farm. Abraham and his older sister Sarah had only attended school there for a short time, when their father decided to move to Indiana. Moving would have been very difficult, especially in the wintertime. The family finally crossed the Ohio River in December and found a farm to settle.
 
2     There was no time or place for Abraham to go to school, because he had to work. The forests covered large parts of Indiana, and they were full of bears and other wild animals. The first thing they had to do was to cut down the trees. Young Abraham learned to use an ax when he was eight, because he was big for his age. He used it almost every day for the next sixteen years, chopping down trees and splitting rails for fences. When he wasn't chopping, he was plowing. It was not an easy life. Living on the farm and working so hard helped Abraham to build a lot of muscle, but what he really wanted to do was learn.
 
3     Two years after they moved to Indiana, Mrs. Lincoln died, and they buried her near the cabin where they lived. A short time later, Mr. Lincoln left, leaving Abraham and Sarah to take care of themselves. That was a very hard time for them, since Abe was no more than ten and Sarah only a little older. About a year later, Mr. Lincoln came back with a new wife. Her name was Sarah, too, and she soon loved her stepchildren very much. She could see how much Abraham wanted to learn and encouraged him to study every chance he had. She knew he had a fine mind, and she wanted him to learn to use it.

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