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Abraham
Lincoln
was the sixteenth president of the United
States and served as president from 1861
until his assassination in 1865. He is
best known for his determination and his
leadership during the American Civil War
and the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
that helped free the slaves of the South.
His Gettysburg Address speech is one of
the most famous speeches in American History.
Abraham
Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809
in a log cabin in Kentucky. He spent his
childhood working on the family farm and
walking two miles to school when time
permitted. Although he learned the basics
of reading, writing, and mathematics in
the schoolhouse, he later credited most
of his knowledge to borrowed books.
The
Lincoln family moved from Kentucky to
Indiana where his mother fell ill and
died from disease soon thereafter. A year
later Lincoln's father returned to Kentucky
and brought back a widow by the name of
Sarah Bush Johnson who Lincoln would later
refer to as "my angel mother".
As Lincoln grew, he began working for
nearby neighbors, eventually landing a
job with the local general store. It was
while working for the store that Lincoln
was able to travel down river with a flatboat
and saw his first glimpse of a city: New
Orleans.
Soon
after, Lincoln's father moved the family
to Illinois where young Lincoln was once
again put to work building fences for
both his family and others. Shortly after
establishing their property, sickness
spread in the region and the Lincoln family
moved again. This time Lincoln stayed
in Illinois and eventually landed a job
for a man named Denton Offutt. It was
with him that Lincoln was given the opportunity
to prove his skills as not only a manager
but as a businessman. Impressed with Lincoln's
skills, Offutt put Lincoln in charge of
a boat of produce headed to New Orleans
and eventually placed him in charge of
his store and mill in the southern city.
Supposedly it was during his time in New
Orleans that Lincoln first became aware
of the seriousness of the slave trade.
One
year later Abraham Lincoln moved back
up to Illinois. As a result of his social
connections and work, decided to run for
the Illinois General Assembly. He lost
the election but won leadership over an
Illinois militia. Although he never saw
combat, he enjoyed the position all the
same.
Two
years later, in 1834, Lincoln ran for
and won a seat on the Illinois state legislature.
At the same time Lincoln began teaching
himself law and was admitted to the bar
in 1837. That same year he moved to Springfield
Illinois and started practicing law with
a man named John T. Stuart. His power
in the courtroom boosted his growing reputation
as a community leader and dedicated defender
of justice.
In
1842 Licoln married a woman from a prominent
Kentucky family. Mary Todd and Abraham
Lincoln married on November 4, 1842 and
eventually had four sons, only one of
which survived to adulthood.
Lincoln
served four terms in the Illinois House
of Representatives and became leader of
the Whig party in Illinois in 1837. He
ran for and won a seat on the U.S. House
of Representatives in 1846, beginning
his political career in the federal government.
Two years later he clashed heads with
prominent leaders in government and he
declined to run again. Instead, Lincoln
decided to focus on his law career back
in Illinois.
It
wasn't until 1854 that Abraham Lincoln
joined the fledgling political movement
called the Republican Party and in 1858
accepted the Republican nomination for
a seat in the Senate. Although he lost
the race, his speeches and eloquence earned
him a following. As a result of his popularity,
Lincoln was chosen as an underdog candidate
for the Republican presidential nomination.
Through strategic campaigning by party
leaders (very little was done by Lincoln
himself) and focused energy in the North,
Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election
to become the 16th President of the United
States. The win made Lincoln the first
Republican president.
Lincoln's
run for president created controversy
in the South where his opponents threatened
that their states would leave the Union
should Lincoln win. The secession of seven
southern states, led by South Carolina,
happened before Lincoln took office. They
declared themselves the Confederate States
of America and established themselves
as a government before Lincoln's inauguration.
Abraham
Lincoln was sworn into office in March
of 1861. One month later, in April 1861,
the Union of the northern states was attacked
by the Confederates, thus beginning the
fight that would lead to the American
Civil War. Tensions rose and fighting
continued, mostly over Lincoln's pursuit
to abolish slavery in the South. In July
of 1862 Congress passed the Second Confiscation
Act which, in conjunction with Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation, helped to support
Lincoln's fight against slavery. Lincoln
later passed the Thirteenth Amendment
that permanently abolished slavery.
According
to Abe Lincoln, the Civil War was more
about protecting the Union than it was
about slavery, but Lincoln quickly became
known for his cause to free the Southern
slaves. Fighting escalated and Lincoln
took as much control as he could over
the defense of the Union and the reclamation
of the South. After the Battle of Gettysburg,
Lincoln proved his eloquence once again
with his famous speech, the Gettysburg
Address, in dedication of the cemetery
at Gettysburg.
On
April 9, 1865 the Civil War ended with
General Lee's surrender at Appomattox
Court House in Virginia. Only a few days
later on April 14, 1865, while watching
a play at Ford's Theatre with his wife,
Lincoln was assassinated. John Wilkes
Booth jumped onto the balcony in which
the President was seated and shot him
in the head. Lincoln was pronounced dead
nine hours later after laying in a coma
across the street.
Abraham
Lincoln was memorialized through monuments
and names. Everything from cars to companies
have taken the name Lincoln to honor the
president and many cities across the US
have also taken on his name. His face
appears on the $5 USD bill and the penny.
Memorials dot the nation and range from
his face engraved at Mt. Rushmore to a
National Monument in Washington D.C.
This
Abraham Lincoln biography may not
be reproduced online.
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