Resources | Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

Updated: April, 2015

“More words have been written about him than about any other American. In fact, more words have been written about him, it’s been estimated, than about any other figure in the history of the world with the exception of Jesus.”
—New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani on Abraham Lincoln

November 6, 2010, is 150 years to the day that Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States.

We wanted to mark this event, and to introduce Disunion, a new series on the Civil War from the Opinionator blog that features primary sources and engaging writing:

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America’s most perilous period — using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded.

Along with the blog, The Times has created a Civil War timeline that will be updated regularly with contemporaneous Times coverage.

As always, we’d love to know how you teach the Civil War.

You can tell us here, or, if you use The Times to teach the era, consider writing in to our Great Ideas From Readers series.

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Lessons on Lincoln and the Civil War

• Throwback Thursday | The 150th Anniversary of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
• Text to Text | The Gettysburg Address and ‘Why the Civil War Still Matters’
• Teaching History With Film: ‘Lincoln’, ‘Argo’ and ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
• Blogging History
  Interpreting Civil War Era Primary Sources
• No Rest for the Weary
  Examining Critical Years During Lincoln’s Presidency
• Two Generals, Many Perspectives
  Exploring the Changing Legacies of General Grant and General Lee
• A Tough Act to Re-enact
  Bringing Historical Action Back to Life

Lessons on Slavery

• Facing the Ghosts of Our Past
  Writing Narrative Reflections on the Civil War and Slavery
• Held Accountable
  Connecting Accounts from Slave Narratives to Historical Research
• Of Human Bondage
  Exploring Perspectives on Slavery During the Civil War Using Primary and Secondary Sources
• Midnight Train to Freedom
  Examining the Underground Railroad by Creating a Museum Book
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine
  Evaluating the Differences between Oral and Written History
• Revealing Untold Stories
  Examining Depictions of Slavery as Presented in a Variety of Texts
• The Fabric of History
  Depicting African American History Through Quilts
• Dedication to Douglass
  Designing Historically Accurate Monuments to Frederick Douglass
• Stateside Slavery
  Addressing Slavery’s Past on This Side of the Atlantic

Related History and Civics Lessons

• It’s Alive!
  Bringing History to Life by Creating Hands-On Museum Exhibits
• Give Me Liberty or Give Me Freedom
  Analyzing the History, Culture, and Politics of the Words “Liberty” and “Freedom”
• Divided We Stand
  Investigating the 2000 Elections and Other Historic Issues That Have Divided America
• Perks and Perils
  Analyzing the Lives of White House Children
• An Oath for the Ages
  Examining Presidential Inaugural Addresses of the Past to Understand Barack Obama’s January 20, 2009 Address
• Taking Them On Faith?
  Investigating the Relationship Between U.S. Presidents and Religion
• Save the Dates
  Creating Annotated Timelines of Important Dates in American History
• Remembrance of Things Past
  Exploring the Power of Words Through the Speeches of American Presidents

Student Crosswords

• The Civil War
• United States Presidents

Historical Times Articles

The Tragedy at Ford's Theater: The Times 100 Year retrospective from 1965. //t.co/D7hDp8ZFeD pic.twitter.com/1DzUSKuWbp

— NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) April 14, 2015

• Article: Lincoln’s First Inauguration
  From March 5, 1861
• Article: The Emancipation Proclamation
  From January 3, 1863
• Article: The Gettysburg Address
  From November 20, 1863
• Article: Lincoln’s Second Inauguration
  From March 5, 1865
• Article: Lincoln Shot
  From April 15, 1865
• Article: Lincoln’s Legacy
  From February 1, 1909

Historical Times Front Pages

Our Great Loss: President Lincoln dies of a gunshot wound on this day 150 years ago. //t.co/2OMVdFWnKn pic.twitter.com/uBC2AINFcI

— NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) April 15, 2015

• Abraham Lincoln Elected President
  November 6, 1860
• The Emancipation Proclamation
  From September 22, 1862
• The Gettysburg Address
  November 19, 1863
• Gen. Sherman: Savannah Ours
  December 12, 1864
• Lincoln Shot
  April 14, 1865

Related Times Topics

• Abraham Lincoln
• The Civil War

Selected Times Multimedia

A slide show from “Abraham Lincoln, the One President All of Them Want to Be More Like.”

• The New York Times Interactive Timeline of the Civil War
  An unfolding history of the major events of the Civil War since Lincoln’s election using contemporaneous coverage from The Times’ article and photo archives.
• Slide Show: Celebrating Lincoln
  Exhibits for Lincoln celebrating the bicentennial year of his birth
• Slide Show: The Many Faces of Lincoln
  Caricatures by Seven Artists
• Slide Show: In Admiration for Abe Lincoln
  Photographs of Members of the Association of Lincoln Presenters
• Slide Show: Lincoln, A History
• Slide Show: Considering at John Brown
• Slide Show: Grant and Lee in War and Peace
• Slide Show: Renovations at Gettysburg
• Slide Show: Civil War Museums
• Slide Show: Restoration of the Gettysburg Cyclorama

Selected Times Articles and Blog Posts

• Disunion
  A series that follows the Civil War as it unfolded, day by day.
• The 150-Year War
  2010 Op-Ed by Tony Horwitz on what the American Civil War still has to say to us.
• The Civil War in Us
  1990 Op-Ed by Allan Gurganus that begins, “I believe our deep feeling for the Civil War is a nostalgia for leadership.”
• Southern Discomfort
  2010 Op-Ed by Jon Meacham on how nostalgia for the Confederacy isn’t about heritage, it’s about racism.
• The Outsider From Illinois
  1996 Op-Ed by David Herbert Donald on Lincoln’s “outsider” status and lack of experience when he first came to the White House.
• A Bike Trail That Traces the Way to Freedom
  Article about a 2,000-mile bicycle route that traces the Underground Railroad.
• Reading Room Blog: Conversations about Great Books: Lincoln
• Article: Letters from Lincoln’s ‘Just War’
• Exhibition Review: Reconsidering the Man From Illinois
• Museum Review: Leading Visitors Through a Historical Journey to a National Heartbreak
• Book Review: Separating the Mythology From the Raw Politics of a Senate Campaign
• Book Review: Call Him Eloquent Abe, the Writer in Chief
• Article: For Serious Lincoln Scholars, Chances for New Discoveries

Other Resources on the Web

• Abraham Lincoln Speeches
  From AmericanRhetoric.com
• American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln
  Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia: essays, speeches, links
• Abraham Lincoln Papers
  From the Library of Congress
• Lincoln Studies Center
  At Knox College
• Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
• “The Time of the Lincolns”
  PBS/American Experience
• “The True Lincoln”
  Time magazine. June 26, 2005.