Abraham Lincoln was born in rural Kentucky in 1809, to
parents of low social standing and little education. During his
childhood and early youth, the family would move several times,
first to Indiana and later to Illinois. Lincoln's mother, Nancy
Hanks, died when Lincoln was still a boy, and the next year his
father, Thomas remarried to Sarah Bush Johnston, who helped raise
the young Lincoln.
Lincoln got his start in life after a pair of flatboat
journeys to New Orleans. Soon afterward, he moved to New Salem,
Illinois and set up as a store clerk there. When the Black Hawk
War broke out in 1832, he became the captain of his volunteer company,
serving for three months but seeing no active duty.
Lincoln's first bid for elected office came in that same
year, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois state legislature.
Two years later, he ran again and was victorious, becoming a fixture
of the Whig party in the General Assembly for the next eight years.
At the same time, Lincoln's law career began to flourish. He
was admitted to the bar in 1837, and moved to Springfield, the
new state capital, later that same year.
Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842. The couple had four
sons together, two of whom would die tragically while still children.
Then, in 1846, Lincoln was elected to U.S. Congress, and moved
to Washington to serve out his term, where he spoke out against
the Mexican War and unsuccessfully attempted to abolish slavery
in the District of Columbia.
In 1849, Lincoln returned to Springfield to resume his
career as a lawyer and devote more time to his family. His political
life seemed to be over. But when the slavery question heated up
in the middle 1850s, Lincoln took to the stump again, running unsuccessfully
for Senate in 1854 and 1858. Despite these losses, Lincoln gained national
exposure due to his flair for oration. Such talent was especially
evident during the series of debates he engaged in against Stephen
Douglas during the campaign of 1858, when Lincoln established himself
as a leading opponent of popular sovereignty.
A combination of luck, manipulation, and talent won Lincoln the
Republican nomination for president in 1860. An especially fragmented
race, featuring four major candidates, resulted in a victory for
Lincoln despite the fact that he won less than 40 percent of the
popular vote. With an avowed opponent of slavery having gained
the nation's top office, several southern states began to consider
the prospect of secession.
An initial wave of secession led by South Carolina brought
about the establishment of the Confederate States of America, a
self-declared independent nation apart from the United States of
America. After Lincoln attempted to reinforce Fort Sumter in Charleston,
South Carolina, Confederate forces opened fire and the Civil War
began. When Lincoln called for a sizeable militia to quash the rebellion,
several more states, led by Virginia, also seceded.
While Lincoln insisted that the Civil War was being fought
to preserve the Union, the fate of slavery also played a major
role. Lincoln took an overpowering role as commander-in-chief
in a time of war. Controversially, he suspended several rights
as defined by the Constitution
and expanded the powers of both the executive and the federal government
considerably. In addition, Lincoln signed several significant
pieces of legislation into law, including policies relating to
currency, homesteaders, railroads, and taxes.
Today, many view Lincoln's most significant action as
president to be his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863,
which paved the way for the Thirteenth Amendment and the abolishment of
slavery in the United States. He also became noted for his pithy way
with words, giving such memorable speeches as the Gettysburg Address
and the Second Inaugural. Together with his trademark beard and
stovepipe hat, Lincoln's talent for simple eloquence has become
a part of popular legend.
The Civil War proved long and costly for both sides, and
though the Union enjoyed superior numbers and stores, they were
often overwhelmed by the superior military minds of the Confederacy.
Despite heavy criticisms from all sides, Lincoln maintained enough support
to win re-election in 1864. As the war drew to a close, Lincoln
made preparations for a charitable reconstruction plan to help unify
the nation once again.
Less than one week after the Confederate surrender, while attending
a Washington theater, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
The nation mourned as he lay in state, and Illinois wept when
her favorite son was interred at Springfield a few weeks later.
The work of reconstruction would carry on without Lincoln, but
his memory would live on in the nation's imagination. For his work
in preserving the union and bringing an end to the "peculiar institution"
of slavery, Abraham Lincoln would come to earn a place of honor
among the greatest of American heroes.
