Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Biography : 16th American President 1861-1865
Famous for : Leading the USA through the American Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation (helping to stop slavery), and for being assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth.
Lincoln details : Born - Hardin County, Kentucky, USA, February 12, 1809 / Died - Washington, D.C., April 15, 1865 United States of America
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.



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