Abraham Lincoln(1809-1865)
* Abraham Lincoln could quite possibly one of the nation’s greatest leaders. He led our nation through its greatest crisis, The American Civil War as well as our country’s darkest era: slavery and finally established the true morals of the United States.
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Born on February 12, 1809 Lincoln was the second son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln
in a dirt floor one room log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky. When Lincoln was a
child his father moved his family several times, at the age of seven he moved
the family to Perry County, Indiana. When Abraham was only nine years old his
Mother died of “milk sickness” His Father soon married Sarah Bush Johnson, who
took Lincoln under her wing and raised him and his sister, Sarah, as her own.
Lincoln would spend the remainder of his life calling her “mother.”
* Lincoln was very
ambitious from a young age he was virtually self-educated, by reading books when
ever he could get his hands on them. When Lincoln was 22 he set out on his own
and settled in the town of New Salem. There he studied law, worked as a flatboat
river-man and managed a general store. Lincoln’s first venture in political life
was a run for the Illinois state legislator, when he was only 23. In 1832 he was
admitted to the bar and began to practice law in Springfield Illinois. Lincoln’s
popularity grew throughout Springfield and he became one of the most prosperous
and respected lawyers in the town. In 1844, Lincoln married the southern belle
Mary Todd after a rocky courtship. The couple had four sons Robert, Edward,
William and Thomas.
* In 1854 Lincoln joined the fledgling Republican Party as one of its founding members. During the 1850’s Lincoln continued to pursue politics, he helped draw in former Whig members into the newly formed Republican Party. In Elections for the 1860 presidential campaign Lincoln was chosen as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. The 6 ft. 4 tall Lincoln, found he was squaring off with his old rival Stephan Douglas. The issue: Slavery. Lincoln and his party were known for opposing slavery, while Douglas and the Democrats were for slavery and its expansion. It was during this election that he was given the legendary nicknames of “Honest Abe” and “the Rail Splitter.” On November 6, 1860 Lincoln was elected ass the nations 16th President of the United States. Before Lincoln could even take office Deep South slave states succeed from the United States, forming a new nation called the Confederate States of America. Lincoln would not recognize the Confederacy as a legitimate country. After the attack on Fort Sumter Lincoln called for 75,000 from each state to take back the fort, protect the capitol and preserve the Union. Virginia, which had repeatedly warned Lincoln it would not allow an invasion of its territory or join an attack on another state, then, seceded, along with North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, thus beginning the American Civil War
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The Civil War took its toll on Lincoln as he struggled with inadequate Generals,
heavy losses on both sides, and personal tragedies. During the War Lincoln lost
his son Willie to illness. Lincoln’s strategy for the war was two-fold, a well
defended capitol and a strong offensive war. After the Battle of Antietam
Lincoln delivered a devastating blow to the Confederates by the release of the
Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that all slaves in the Confederacy were
free. Lincoln had single handedly turned the war into a war of freedom and
justice. On November 19th 1863 Lincoln delivered the legendary
Gettysburg Address. Lincoln brought the successful union general of the west to
take over the command of facing Robert E. Lee’s retreating forces. Grant and
Lincoln’s aggressive tactics proved to work and in the spring of 1865 Lee surre
ndered
to Grant.
(Gettysburg)
* After the war Lincoln had many plans to reconstruct the fallen Confederate states. He had no intentions of punishing the former slave states, he also pushed for voting rights and citizenship( for the freed slaves. No one will no what our country might have been like if we had followed his plans for on the night of April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer who thought the south would secede again if Lincoln were dead. Abraham Lincoln fought for life until the next morning when he died.
* Lincoln’s Memory Lives with us today. He taught us that taking up the fight to save something precious are worth dying for, such as freedom and justice. He led a country to victory during a war that would cripple even the most strongest of leaders. Abraham Lincoln will forever be a symbol of the true American Spirit.