Class 8

The Industrial Revolution

Main Lesson

Abraham Lincoln and the abolishment of slavery.

Lincoln led the United States through its Civil Warits bloodiest war
and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing
so, he preserved the Union and abolished slavery.
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, USA. His family were poor,
his mother died when he was young and his father had little time for
him.
His schooling was poor because he started work from the age of 9.
He worked many different jobs; he worked on boats, farms and in
small stores.
He was determined to get an education. He was self taught and he
would read at every opportunity. When he was working he could
often be found behind the counter reading a book.
He eventually managed to become a lawyer; he was known for his
honesty and faith in justice. It is no surprise that a man like
Abraham was strongly against slavery.
In 1860, he became the President of the United States of America.
In America, there was a great divide between the Northern states
(where there were no slaves) and the Southern states (where they
still required slaves to work on their vast cotton plantations).
When Abraham became the president he promised the he would not
make the Southern states give up their slaves he wanted to avoid
splitting up the nation.
However, the rich landowners and politicians in the Southern states
didnt believe him. They went ahead and declared independence in
1861.
What followed would be a bloody battle between the North and
South that would last for 4 years. 600,000 lives would be lost.
Because the Southern states declared independence, Abraham
Lincoln decided he would abolish slavery in the USA if he managed
to to keep the country together by force.
The war ended and victory went to the North. Lincoln had managed
to keep the county together and he managed to abolish slavery.
Unfortunately, he was not able to realise some of his other hopes for
the nation. He was assassinated on April 14, 1865.
Tsar Alexander II and the abolishment of serfdom.

Russia too had its own kinds of slaves but they were called
surfs.
The serfs in Russia were of Russian origin (unlike the African slaves
that were shipped over to America), however, their lives were just
as miserable as the slaves in America.
At the time there were few cities in Russia. There was no real
industry to speak of, so that means there were no factories either.

Class 8

The Industrial Revolution

Main Lesson

Most of the country was farmland. Although, there werent farmers

like youd find in Australia today. There were only vast estates
stretching over thousands of acres. These estates were owned by
the Russian aristocrats.
The peasants working on these estates were not tenants as they
had been in Britain. They were serfs which meant that they were
property of the owner, just like cattle or the houses on the estate.
The estate owner didnt give the serfs money or food. They had
their own little plot to grow their vegetables. They were required to
work four days on their masters field and then two days on their
own plot.
A new Tsar came to the thrown in 1855. Tsar Alexander II, he was a
man who wanted to see progress in Russia. He started by building
railways. (His father had forbidden the construction of railways on
the grounds that they would encourage unnecessary travelling and
therefore make the people restless). He also wanted social change;
he wanted to abolish serfdom, so that they would have equal rights
with the other people of Russia.
He worked out a system that would please both the rich noblemen
and the serfs. He would need to take the land from the noblemen
and give it to the peasants. They would work the new plots given to
them and sell a portion of their crops. Then each year, bit by bit,
they would pay back what they owed to noblemen for the land.
Serfdom was abolished in Russia.