Lincoln and Citizenship

Main Content

Lincoln and Citizenship

Who gets to be a citizen? Should there be any requirements? Are citizens required to do anything? The idea of citizenship has changed over time; however, it is something many people value and have fought to acquire.  

Your Task: identify your own ideas about citizenship and evaluate documents to trace how Abraham Lincoln’s views on who could be a citizen evolved. Through this investigation, you will also meet Frederick Douglass, the person historian Mark E. Steiner credits in his SIU Press book for influencing President Lincoln’s views on African American citizenship. 

 What Does it Mean to be a Citizen?

         Getting it Wrong/Right

         The Great Persuader