Preserve Protect and Defend: The Presedency of Abraham Lincoln

As I was studying Lincoln I wondered why a pioneer child would want to learn to read, something no other child at that time wanted to do. These days children want to learn to read because their older siblings do it. Parents read. Their parents take them to the public library (children's section). Parents read to their children. Children conclude that if you want to be a big person, learn to read. But why would a poor pioneer child want to do such an unpopular activity? Especially since pion...