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1、1. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. He served as President from March 4, 1861 until April 15, 1865 (He was re-elected in 1864). Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He had very little formal schooling an
2、d was mostly self-educated.,I. Related Information,He eventually became a lawyer and a Republican politician, and earned the nickname “Honest Abe.“ In 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd. They had four sons, but only one survived childhood. During Lincolns presidency, the Southern states seceded from (le
3、ft) the Union because Lincoln and the Northern states were against slavery. Six weeks after becoming President, the Civil War began. In this war, the Northern states (which stayed in the Union) fought the Southern states (called the Confederacy). The Civil War lasted from 1861 to1865.,On Jan. 1, 186
4、3, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually led to the freeing of all slaves in the USA. During the Civil War, Lincoln gave many speeches, including the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 1863), a short speech in which he stated how a country must be dedicated to human freedom in order t
5、o survive. Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864. General Robert E. Lee (from the Confederacy) surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant (from the Union) on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War.,Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth (an actor) while attending a play at
6、 Fords Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the next morning. He was the first US President ever assassinated. Both his friends and his enemies praised his selflessness and kindness. Americans will remember him.,2. Nelson Mandela (1818- ),Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa o
7、n July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ru
8、ling National Partys apartheid policies after 1948.,After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. In 1964, Mandela was brought to stand trial for plotting to overthrow the government b
9、y violence and was sentenced to life imprisonment. During his years in prison, Nelson Mandelas reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consisten
10、tly refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.,Nelson Mandela was released on February 18, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his lifes work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the firs
11、t national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC.In a life that symbolizes the triumph of the human spirit over mans inhumanity to man, Nelson Mandela accepted the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of al
12、l South Africans who suffered and sacrificed so much to bring peace to our land.,3. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)Zora Neale Hurston was an American author who wrote stories, novels, anthropological folklore and an autobiography. She died in 1960 but her works have increased in popularity and are pa
13、ssing the test of time with staying power. She was a nique artist and scientist who produced for us a large body of work that stands equal to any body of work in American Literature and world literature. About writing she wrote:,“Anyway, the force from somewhere in Space which commands you to write
14、in the first place, gives you no choice. You take up the pen when you are told, and write what is commanded. There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.”Her works included:Jonahs Gourd Vine (1934) Mules and Men (1935) Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939) Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) Seraph on the Suwanee (1948),
