Chapters 1-2 Summary and Analysis

The opening chapter, "Annals of the Poor," summarizes Lincoln's childhood years from his birth in 1809. Little is known about his ancestry, and Donald suggests that Lincoln himself was not very interested in it, except to point out that his grandmother was quite probably illegitimate and that he believed he may have received a strain of independence from her.

While the Lincoln family was fairly prosperous, Lincoln's father, Thomas is left to make his own way after his brother inherits the family property. Thomas leads his family from Virginia to Kentucky to Indiana, always looking for a better opportunity. Young Abraham Lincoln receives very little schooling in his early childhood and is expected to share in the hard work of subsistence farming.

Lincoln grows restless as a teenager and begins to conflict with his father. In later years, Donald mentions...