Abe+Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln



Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. When he was nine years old, his mom died of milk sickness, a disease caused by spoiled dairy products. In 1816 Lincoln and family were forced to move to Perry Court, IN. The move was partly on the account of slavery and partially because of the land deeds in Kentucky. At the age of twenty-two, Lincoln moved out on his own to Illinois. Lincoln only had eighteen months of schooling throughout his life. He taught himself the basic structures of living and little did he know that it would lead him to a famous political career. Lincoln’s political career began in 1832, the unsuccessful campaign for Illinois General Assembly as a candidate of the Whig party. He served four successful terms in the Illinois House of Representatives and became leader of the Whig party. In 1837, Abe made his first protest against slavery. Lincoln married to Mary Todd, daughter of a prominent slave-owning family from Kentucky. Together, they had four sons, but only one survived into adulthood. The other three sons died during childhood or teen years. Abraham returned to politics after raising a family in the year 1854. Word was going around about the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which made him more interested into the political world. He slowly moved his way up to being a candidate for the election of 1860. He was eventually nominated for the presidential election based on his views of slavery.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected president of the United States. During the time of Lincoln's term, the Civil War took place. Seven states succeeded from the Union, declaring themselves the Confederate States of America before Lincoln took office. This soon led to the Civil War in 1861. The first battle took place at Fort Sumter.

Lincoln's main goal of the Civil War was to preserve the Union at all costs, even if this meant putting an end to slavery or tolerating it. Eventually, on January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves under Confederate control. Over the years of war between the North and the South, states were still in disagreement over the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was re-elected in 1864 and on April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, and the war was finally over. The Union had won the Civil War. When the General had asked Abe how the confederates should be treated, he responded with no hate towards the South. He agreed to "Let 'em stand." as he said.

Approximately a week after the official end of the war, Lincoln attended a play at Ford's Theatre with his wife, Mary Todd. As the play was in progress, an actor and a well known Confederate spy, by the name of John Wilkes Booth, assassinated Abraham Lincoln. He had been shot. His assassinator believed he was doing a favor for the Confederacy by murdering the president. He was eventually caught and imprisoned. Lincoln was one of our country’s best. He is responsible for ending slavery. Abe has done us all a favor.