Ideas for Teachers on Lincoln and the Founding

By Tom Peet

Nov. 22, 2025

Here are suggested topics for classroom discussion, student essay projects or reports on Abraham Lincoln and the founding of the United States. Great ideas as students dig into the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.

The list was complied by Tom Peet, a longtime Ohio high school history and government teacher. He is co-author of “Reading Lincoln: An Annotated Bibliography,” which offers capsule reviews of hundreds of books about Lincoln.

Here they are:

1. Why did Lincoln seem to believe that the Declaration of Independence rather than the Constitution was the founding document of the United States? What evidence do we have that Lincoln believed this?

2. Did Abraham Lincoln really believe that all men were created equal in every way? If he did, how do we account for some of his statements in the Lincoln/Douglas debates of 1858 that seemed to deny full equality for black people?

3. How was Abraham Lincoln able to rise above the prejudices held by most people among whom he lived in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois? Or, did he really rise above them? Was the Declaration an important reason for his changed views?

4. How did Lincoln reconcile his disgust with Thomas Jefferson the slaveholder and his admiration of Jefferson, the author of the lofty words of the Declaration?

5. Did Lincoln believe that “All men are created equal” also applied to women?