STUMP SPEAKING

Statue of Abraham Lincoln's First Political Speech on a stump at Decatur, Illinois

Teacher Notes and Ideas

Abraham Lincoln read and re-read the books of his childhood.  He would use their morals, language, and content within his adult-age speeches and talks.  Aesop's Fables' morals would be used even with his own Civil War generals.  He would utilize the story format in presenting very important points and ideas. 

In his speeches and conservations he could use vocabulary necessary to get the message across at the moment.  He could give a very important speech and all levels of listeners (education-wise) could understand what he was saying.  Here's how he could do this:

His original learning from reading was derived from very old literature including the Bible (King James Version), Aesop's Fables, Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and Wheem's Biography of George Washington.  Evidently the young Abraham learned to read "out loud," and continued that even into his Springfield life in the law office (according to Billy Herndon).  By quoting from, or using language from the Bible, he could relate to just about everyone.  Everyone (especially in the frontier states of Indiana and Illinois) went to church and was very familiar with the Bible. 

Another reason that Lincoln's language and vocabulary sounds familiar is that he used wording and language from the old Founding Father's documents (U.S. constitution, and especially the Declaration of Independence, to which was read and re-read continuously.  His greatest speeches uses quotes from these founding father documents.  His Emancipation Proclamation, second inauguration, Gettysburg sound very much like these old documents. 

People loved his humor, and he would often make fun of himself (his appearance and country-folk ways).  If he could get a good laugh with a story or joke, he could get their attention for more important words.

Abraham Lincoln was self-educated, but at New Salem he would get a little help from Mentor Graham in learning to be a lawyer.  He would read the whole Blackstone Commentaries from cover to cover, from beginning to end.  He learned the language of a lawyer, court room procedure, and throughout all his life a level of honesty and truth-following.  He did not win every case he took on, but the law would be followed strictly, even if his client lost.  Many of his Supreme Court cases, and the Matson Slave Trial in Charleston, would set precedence and be used even to this day as case law.

For Grades 6-8, a lot of speaking opportunities can be organized:

Here are some examples of activities:

1. Use MEMORIZATION to recite the Gettysburg Address.

2. Have students dress up in the manner of a young Lincoln lawyer (tall hat and dark suit with bow tie).

3. Recite stories derived from a book of Lincoln's writings or speeches.

4. Study the poetry of Abraham Lincoln, especially the poem he wrote when in Indiana on a visit before becoming President.

5. Have the students recite by reading or memory his poem.  Have them write their own "personal memory poem--similar to his) and read or recite it by memory.

6. Study inauguration speeches of Lincoln (and maybe other presidents) and give excerpts from them.

7. Decorate the setting with U.S. flags, a special decorated podium, and perhaps have the students design a presidential seal for President Lincoln (he probably did not have one).

8. Go to the Lincoln the Lawyer activity, and conduct actual mock trials.

9. Make a trip to the Macon County Historical Museum (make a reservation) and hold a trial in their actual old log courthouse.  Visit Vandalia Statehouse and the Old State Capitol at Springfield to perhaps give a speech in a real historical setting.

10. Take lots of pics and have fun "speaking from a stump."