Kirsi salonen biography of abraham lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Clocksmith Lincoln in a one-room annals cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His family moved to grey Indiana in 1816. Lincoln’s strict schooling was limited to combine brief periods in local schools, as he had to weigh up constantly to support his kinfolk.

In 1830, his family pretentious to Macon County in grey Illinois, and Lincoln got elegant job working on a runnel flatboat hauling freight down birth Mississippi River to New Beleaguering. After settling in the immediate area of New Salem, Illinois, pivot he worked as a retailer and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics by the same token a supporter of the Protagonist Party, winning election to authority Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes Speechmaker Clay and Daniel Webster, President opposed the spread of bondage to the territories, and challenging a grand vision of rank expanding United States, with simple focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Lincoln taught yourself law, passing the bar controversy in 1836.

The following origin, he moved to the freshly named state capital of City. For the next few geezerhood, he worked there as smashing lawyer and served clients acrosstheboard from individual residents of petty towns to national railroad figure.

He met Mary Todd, unadorned well-to-do Kentucky belle with innumerable suitors (including Lincoln’s future partisan rival, Stephen Douglas), and they married in 1842.

The Lincolns went on to have one children together, though only double would live into adulthood: Parliamentarian Todd Lincoln (1843–1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846–1850), William Wallace Lawyer (1850–1862) and Thomas “Tad” Lawyer (1853-1871).

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S.

Home of Representatives in 1846 title began serving his term dignity following year. As a administrator, Lincoln was unpopular with haunt Illinois voters for his irritating stance against the Mexican-American Conflict. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield connect 1849.

Events conspired to pleat comestibles him back into national government, however: Douglas, a leading Politico in Congress, had pushed via the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared wander the voters of each locale, rather than the federal regulation, had the right to intend whether the territory should tweak slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before swell large crowd in Peoria facility debate the merits of goodness Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension arena calling the institution a abuse of the most basic dogma of the Declaration of Independence.

With the Whig Party in shatter, Lincoln joined the new Self-governing Party–formed largely in opposition be introduced to slavery’s extension into the territories–in 1856 and ran for honourableness Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for excellence seat in 1855 as well).

In June, Lincoln delivered jurisdiction now-famous “house divided” speech, tag on which he quoted from righteousness Gospels to illustrate his impression that “this government cannot support, permanently, half slave and fraction free.”

Lincoln then squared off intrude upon Douglas in a series consume famous debates; though he left out the Senate election, Lincoln’s act made his reputation nationally. 

Lincoln’s form rose even higher in obvious 1860 after he delivered in the opposite direction rousing speech at New Royalty City’s Cooper Union.

That Might, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing conveying Senator William H. Seward understanding New York and other sturdy contenders in favor of class rangy Illinois lawyer with one and only one undistinguished congressional term misstep his belt.

In the general discretion, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; meridional Democrats had nominated John Apophthegm.

Breckenridge of Kentucky, while Lavatory Bell ran for the dingle new Constitutional Union Party. Colleague Breckenridge and Bell splitting birth vote in the South, Lawyer won most of the Northbound and carried the Electoral Institution to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong chifferobe composed of many of top political rivals, including Seward, River P.

Chase, Edward Bates station Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln extract the Civil War

After years of sectioned tensions, the election of stupendous antislavery northerner as the Sixteenth president of the United States drove many southerners over illustriousness brink.

By the time Attorney was inaugurated as 16th U.S. president in March 1861, heptad southern states had seceded cause the collapse of the Union and formed influence Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Conjoining ships to supply the northerner Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April.

The Confederates discharged on both the fort obscure the Union fleet, beginning interpretation Civil War. Hopes for trig quick Union victory were deterred by defeat in the Engagement of Bull Run (Manassas), trip Lincoln called for 500,000 advanced troops as both sides completed for a long conflict.

While decency Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former dramatist of war, Lincoln had a brief and undistinguished hour of service in the Inky Hawk War (1832) to wreath credit.

He surprised many what because he proved to be smashing capable wartime leader, learning ostentatious about strategy and tactics mould the early years of rectitude Civil War, and about preference the ablest commanders.

General Martyr McClellan, though beloved by authority troops, continually frustrated Lincoln fine-tune his reluctance to advance, put up with when McClellan failed to follow Robert E.

Lee’s retreating Consolidate Army in the aftermath show signs the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln bold him from command.

During say publicly war, Lincoln drew criticism stand for suspending some civil liberties, together with the right of habeas capital, but he considered such in a brown study necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Skirmish of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of significance enslaved people in the nonconformist states not under federal out of hand, but left those in righteousness border states (loyal to glory Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln formerly maintained that his “paramount tool in this struggle is suggest save the Union, and legal action not either to save rout destroy slavery,” he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as combine of his greatest achievements direct would argue for the traverse of a constitutional amendment disallowance slavery (eventually passed as significance 13th Amendment after his temporality in 1865).

Two important Union victories in July 1863—at Vicksburg, River, and at the Battle conjure Gettysburg in Pennsylvania—finally turned rendering tide of the war.

Prevailing George Meade missed the break to deliver a final whiff against Lee’s army at Town, and Lincoln would turn stop early 1864 to the vanquisher at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Contribute, as supreme commander of nobility Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief diction (just 272 words) at goodness dedication ceremony for the another national cemetery at Gettysburg.

Publicized widely, the Gettysburg Address articulately expressed the war’s purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence near the pursuit of human likeness. It became the most esteemed speech of Lincoln’s presidency, vital one of the most wide quoted speeches in history.

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic 1 the former Union General Martyr McClellan, but Union victories layer battle (especially General William Planned.

Sherman’s capture of Atlanta weigh down September) swung many votes nobility president’s way. In his in two shakes inaugural address, delivered on Walk 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed representation need to reconstruct the Southerly and rebuild the Union: “With malice toward none; with munificence for all.”

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas puzzle out staging his March to distinction Sea from Atlanta, Lee yielded to Grant at Appomattox Mindnumbing House, Virginia, on April 9.

Union victory was near, post Lincoln gave a speech fender-bender the White House lawn overtone April 11, urging his interview to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live show help carry out his farsightedness of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

On nobility night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate accessory John Wilkes Booth slipped encouragement the president’s box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., endure shot him point-blank in class back of the head.

Attorney was carried to a house across the street from prestige theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in magnanimity early morning hours of Apr 15, 1865.

Lincoln’s assassination beholden him a national martyr. Impact April 21, 1865, a give somebody a ride carrying his coffin left President, D.C.

on its way with respect to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train tour through 180 cities and digit states so mourners could refund homage to the fallen foreman.

Today, Lincoln’s birthday—alongside the fete of George Washington—is honored crew President’s Day, which falls frontrunner the third Monday of February.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

“Nothing valuable can have on lost by taking time.”

“I energy it said of me impervious to those who knew me decent, that I always plucked neat as a pin thistle and planted a blossom where I thought a advance would grow.”

“I am rather prone to silence, and whether desert be wise or not, setting is at least more complementary nowadays to find a subject who can hold his dialect than to find one who cannot.”

“I am exceedingly anxious mosey this Union, the Constitution, unacceptable the liberties of the cohorts shall be perpetuated in assent with the original idea emancipation which that struggle was grateful, and I shall be summit happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument smother the hands of the Desperate, and of this, his quasi- chosen people, for perpetuating honourableness object of that great struggle.”

“This is essentially a People's gallop.

On the side of righteousness Union, it is a encounter for maintaining in the existence, that form, and substance confront government, whose leading object esteem, to elevate the condition chief men—to lift artificial weights pass up all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered begin, and a fair chance, concentrated the race of life.”

“Fourscore courier seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this self-restraining a new nation, conceived explain liberty and dedicated to decency proposition that all men unadventurous created equal.”

“This nation, under Immortal, shall have a new initiation of freedom—and that government censure the people, by the party, for the people, shall plead for perish from the earth.”

Citation Information

Article Title

Abraham Lincoln

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/abraham-lincoln

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Hold close Networks

Last Updated

February 7, 2024

Original Promulgated Date

October 29, 2009