abraham lincoln biography in tamil

Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil | ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கன் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு

ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கன் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு.

Abraham Lincoln Life History in Tamil

ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கனின் வாழ்க்கையில் நடந்த முக்கிய நிகழ்வுகள்

1831-வியாபாரத்தில் தோல்வி 1832- சட்டசபைத் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1833- வியாபாரத்தில் மீண்டும் தோல்வி 1834- சட்டசபைத் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1836-சட்டசபைத் தலைவர் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1840- எலக்டர் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1843- காங்கிரஸ் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1848- காங்கிரஸ் தேர்தலில் மீண்டும் தோல்வி 1855- செனட் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1856- உதவி ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1858- செனட் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி இறுதியாக 1860-ல் ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் போட்டியிட்டு வெற்றி பெற்றார்.

• ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் பிறந்தது - ஞாயிறு
• முதல் முறையாக அமெரிக்க ஜெனாதிபதி ஆனது - திங்கள்
• இரண்டாவது முறையாக ஜெனாதிபதி ஆனது - செவ்வாய்
• வழக்கறிஞராக தம்மை பதிவு செய்து கொண்டது - புதன்
• பிரசித்தி பெற்ற கெட்டிஸ்பர்க்கில் உரையாற்றியது - வியாழன்
• லிங்கன் சுடப்பட்டது - வெள்ளி
• லிங்கன் உயிர் நீத்தது - சனி

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ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு | Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil

Table of Contents

Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil: ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் மிகவும் பிரபலமான மற்றும் மரியாதைக்குரிய நபர்களில் ஒருவர். அமெரிக்காவின் 16 வது குடியரசுத் தலைவர் ஆவார், இவர் நாட்டின் இருண்ட காலகட்டங்களில் ஒன்றான உள்நாட்டுப் போரின் மூலம் நாட்டை வழிநடத்தி, அடிமைத்தனத்தை முடிவுக்குக் கொண்டுவர உதவினார். இந்த கட்டுரையில், ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கனின் வாழ்க்கை மற்றும் பாரம்பரியத்தை பற்றி பார்ப்போம், அவரது ஆரம்ப ஆண்டுகள், அவரது ஜனாதிபதி பதவி மற்றும் அமெரிக்க சமூகத்தில் இவர் நீடித்த தாக்கத்தை பற்றியும் பார்ப்போம்.

ஆரம்ப காலம்

ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் பிப்ரவரி 12, 1809 அன்று கென்டக்கியின் ஹோட்ஜென்வில்லில் தாமஸ் மற்றும் நான்சி ஹாங்க்ஸ் லிங்கனுக்கு இரண்டாவது குழந்தையாகப் பிறந்தார். அவரது குடும்பம் ஏழ்மையானது, அவருக்கு முறையான கல்வி இல்லை. அவருக்கு ஒன்பது வயதாக இருந்தபோது அவரது தாயார் இறந்துவிட்டார், அவரது தந்தை விரைவில் மறுமணம் செய்து கொண்டார். அவரது மாற்றாந்தாய் உடனான லிங்கனின் உறவு நேர்மறையானது, மேலும் இவர் வாசிப்பு மற்றும் கல்வியில் அவரது ஆர்வத்தை ஊக்குவித்தார்.

குழந்தைப் பருவம் மற்றும் கல்வி

முறையான கல்வி இல்லாவிட்டாலும், லிங்கன் ஆர்வமுள்ள வாசகராக இருந்தார், மேலும் சட்டத்தை கற்றுக் கொண்டார். இவர் குடும்ப பண்ணையில் வேலை செய்தார் மற்றும் அண்டை வீட்டாருக்கு சிறிய வேலைகளைச் செய்ய வேலைக்கு அமர்த்தப்பட்டார். 1830 ஆம் ஆண்டில், அவரது குடும்பம் இல்லினாய்ஸுக்கு குடிபெயர்ந்தது, அங்கு இவர் தனது அரசியல் வாழ்க்கையைத் தொடங்கினார்.

ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கனின் ஆரம்ப கால பணிகள்

22 வயதில், ஒரு அலுவலகத்தில் எழுத்தராகச் சேர்ந்தார். பின்னர் கடனில் ஒரு கடையை வாங்கி வியாபாரத்தில் நஷ்டமடைந்தார், பின்னர் ஒரு தபால் நிலையத்தில் தபால்காரராக பணியாற்றினார். பிறகு சொந்தமாகப் படித்து வழக்கறிஞரானார். அவர் 1847 முதல் 1849 வரை அமெரிக்க நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினராக பணியாற்றினார்.

அரசியல் வாழ்க்கை

ஜனாதிபதி பதவி.

அரசியல் ஈடுபாட்டின் மூலம் அடிமைத்தனத்தை ஒழிக்க முடியும் என்ற முடிவுக்கு லிங்கன் வந்திருந்தார். லிங்கன் தனது அரசியல் வாழ்க்கையை இல்லினாய்ஸ் சட்டமன்றத்தில் தொடங்கினார், அங்கு இவர் 1834 முதல் 1842 வரை பணியாற்றினார். அடிமைத்தனத்தை எதிர்ப்பதற்காகவும், உள்கட்டமைப்பு வளர்ச்சிக்கான ஆதரவிற்காகவும் இவர் அறியப்பட்டார். 1846 ஆம் ஆண்டில், இவர் அமெரிக்க பிரதிநிதிகள் சபைக்கு தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டார், அங்கு இவர் அடிமைத்தனத்திற்கு எதிராக தொடர்ந்து குரல் கொடுத்தார்.

Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil: அவரது ஜனாதிபதி பதவிக்கு முன், லிங்கன் அரசியலில் நீண்ட வாழ்க்கையை கொண்டிருந்தார். அவர் 1834 இல் இல்லினாய்ஸ் மாநில சட்டமன்றத்தில் தனது அரசியல் வாழ்க்கையைத் தொடங்கினார், பின்னர் 1847 முதல் 1849 வரை அமெரிக்க பிரதிநிதிகள் சபையில் பணியாற்றினார். 1858 இல், இல்லினாய்ஸ் செனட்டரியல் பந்தயத்தின் போது செனட்டர் ஸ்டீபன் ஏ. டக்ளஸைப் பற்றி பிரபலமாக விவாதித்தார், தேசிய கவனத்தைப் பெற்று தன்னை நிலைநிறுத்திக் கொண்டார். குடியரசுக் கட்சியின் முக்கிய பிரமுகர்.

இவர் 1861 முதல் 1865 இல் அவர் படுகொலை செய்யப்படும் வரை அமெரிக்காவின் 16 வது ஜனாதிபதியாக பணியாற்றினார். அவர் மிகப் பெரிய அமெரிக்க ஜனாதிபதிகளில் ஒருவராக பரவலாகக் கருதப்படுகிறார், குறிப்பாக அமெரிக்க ஆட்சியின் போது அவரது தலைமைக்காக. உள்நாட்டுப் போர் மற்றும் அடிமைத்தனத்தை ஒழிப்பதற்கான அவரது முயற்சிகள்.

இராணுவ தலைமை

பிரச்சாரங்களைத் திட்டமிடுவதற்கும் செயல்படுத்துவதற்கும் இவர் யூலிஸ் எஸ். கிராண்ட் உட்பட அவரது இராணுவ தளபதிகளுடன் நெருக்கமாக பணியாற்றினார். இவர் போர்க்களங்கள் மற்றும் மருத்துவமனைகளையும் பார்வையிட்டார், அங்கு இவர் வீரர்களுடன் பேசினார் மற்றும் மன உறுதியை அதிகரிக்க முயன்றார்.

உள்நாட்டுப் போர்

லிங்கன் பதவியேற்ற சில வாரங்களுக்குப் பிறகு, ஏப்ரல் 1861 இல் உள்நாட்டுப் போர் தொடங்கியது. லிங்கனின் முதன்மையான குறிக்கோள் யூனியனைப் பாதுகாப்பதாகும், ஆனால் அடிமைத்தனத்தை முடிவுக்குக் கொண்டுவருவதற்கான வாய்ப்பை போர் வழங்கியதாகவும் இவர் நம்பினார். இவர் 1863 இல் விடுதலைப் பிரகடனத்தை வெளியிட்டார், இது கூட்டமைப்பு பிரதேசத்தில் உள்ள அனைத்து அடிமைகளும் சுதந்திரமாக இருப்பதாக அறிவித்தது. பிரகடனம் எந்த அடிமைகளையும் உடனடியாக விடுவிக்கவில்லை, ஆனால் இது போருக்கான யூனியனின் இலக்குகளில் குறிப்பிடத்தக்க மாற்றத்தை செய்தது.

உள்நாட்டுப் போரின் போது, கூட்டமைப்புக்கு எதிரான யூனியனை வெற்றிக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்வதில் லிங்கன் முக்கியப் பங்காற்றினார். அவர் 1863 இல் விடுதலைப் பிரகடனத்தை வெளியிட்டார், அது கூட்டமைப்பு கட்டுப்பாட்டில் உள்ள அனைத்து அடிமைகளும் விடுவிக்கப்பட வேண்டும் என்று அறிவித்தது. அவர் கெட்டிஸ்பர்க் முகவரி மற்றும் தேசிய ஒற்றுமை மற்றும் அடிமைத்தனத்தை முடிவுக்குக் கொண்டுவரும் அவரது இரண்டாவது தொடக்க உரை உட்பட பல பிரபலமான உரைகளை வழங்கினார்.

உள்நாட்டுப் போர் முடிவடைந்த சில நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு, ஏப்ரல் 1865 இல் ஜான் வில்க்ஸ் பூத் என்பவனால் லிங்கன் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டபோது , லிங்கனின் ஜனாதிபதி பதவி ஒரு சோகமான முடிவுக்கு வந்தது. அவர் அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் மிகவும் பிரியமான மற்றும் மரியாதைக்குரிய நபர்களில் ஒருவராக இருக்கிறார், அவருடைய தலைமைத்துவம், அவரது பேச்சுத்திறன் மற்றும் நீதி மற்றும் சமத்துவத்திற்கான அவரது அசைக்க முடியாத அர்ப்பணிப்புக்காக நினைவுகூரப்படுகிறார்.

ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கனின் வெற்றி/தோல்விகள்

ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கனின் பெருமைகள்.

ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கனின் பாரம்பரியம் சிக்கலான ஒன்று. இவர் அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் மிகப் பெரிய ஜனாதிபதிகளில் ஒருவராக பரவலாகக் கருதப்படுகிறார், ஆனால் சிவில் உரிமைகள் பற்றிய அவரது பதிவு விமர்சிக்கப்பட்டது.

விடுதலை பிரகடனம்

விடுதலைப் பிரகடனம் லிங்கனின் மிக முக்கியமான சாதனைகளில் ஒன்றாகும். அது உடனடியாக எந்த அடிமைகளையும் விடுவிக்கவில்லை என்றாலும், அது போருக்கான யூனியனின் இலக்குகளின் மாற்றத்திற்கும் மற்றும் இறுதியில் அடிமைத்தனத்தை ஒழிப்பதற்கான அடித்தளத்தை அமைத்தது.

கெட்டிஸ்பர்க் முகவரி

Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil: நவம்பர் 1863 இல் லிங்கன் வழங்கிய கெட்டிஸ்பர்க் முகவரி, அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் மிகவும் பிரபலமான உரைகளில் ஒன்றாகும். ஒரு சில குறுகிய பத்திகளில், கெட்டிஸ்பர்க் போரில் இறந்த வீரர்களை லிங்கன் நினைவு கூர்ந்தார் மற்றும் யூனியனின் கொள்கைகளுக்கு புதுப்பிக்கப்பட்ட அர்ப்பணிப்புக்கு அழைப்பு விடுத்தார்.

ஏப்ரல் 1865 இல் லிங்கனின் படுகொலை ஒரு குறிப்பிடத்தக்க வாழ்க்கைக்கு ஒரு சோகமான முடிவு. இவர் நாட்டை அதன் இருண்ட காலகட்டத்தில் வழிநடத்தினார், மேலும் அவரது மரணம் தேசத்திற்கு ஒரு அடியாகும். இருப்பினும், அவரது மரணத்திற்குப் பிறகு பல ஆண்டுகளாக அவரது நினைவகம் அமெரிக்கர்களுக்கு ஊக்கமளிக்கிறது.

சமூக உரிமைகள்

உள்நாட்டுப் போரின் போது லிங்கன் தலைமைத்துவத்திற்காக அடிக்கடி பாராட்டப்பட்டாலும், சிவில் உரிமைகள் பற்றிய அவரது பதிவு விமர்சிக்கப்பட்டது. இவர் ஜனாதிபதியாக இருந்தபோது, ஆட்கொணர்வு மனுவை இடைநிறுத்தி, அரசியல் எதிர்ப்பாளர்களை சிறையில் அடைக்க உத்தரவிட்டார். பூர்வீக அமெரிக்கர்களுக்கு எதிராக பாகுபாடு காட்டும் கொள்கைகளையும் இவர் ஆதரித்தார்.

ஒற்றுமையின் சின்னம்

இந்த விமர்சனங்கள் இருந்தபோதிலும், லிங்கன் அமெரிக்க சமுதாயத்தில் ஒற்றுமை மற்றும் நம்பிக்கையின் சின்னமாக இருக்கிறார். யூனியனுக்கான அவரது அர்ப்பணிப்பு மற்றும் சுதந்திரம் மற்றும் சமத்துவத்தின் முக்கியத்துவத்தின் மீதான அவரது நம்பிக்கைக்காக இவர் கொண்டாடப்படுகிறார். அவரது மரபு இன்றுவரை அமெரிக்கர்களை ஊக்கப்படுத்துகிறது.

Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil: ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் அமெரிக்க வரலாற்றில் ஒரு குறிப்பிடத்தக்க நபராக இருந்தார். இவர் கடினமான குழந்தைப் பருவத்தை கடந்து நாட்டின் வரலாற்றில் மிகவும் மரியாதைக்குரிய மற்றும் பிரியமான ஜனாதிபதிகளில் ஒருவராக ஆனார்.

உள்நாட்டுப் போரின் போது அவரது தலைமைத்துவம், அடிமைத்தனத்தை முடிவுக்குக் கொண்டுவருவதற்கான அவரது அர்ப்பணிப்பு மற்றும் சுதந்திரம் மற்றும் சமத்துவத்தின் முக்கியத்துவம் குறித்த அவரது நம்பிக்கை ஆகியவை இன்றுவரை அமெரிக்கர்களை ஊக்கப்படுத்துகின்றன. சிவில் உரிமைகள் குறித்த அவரது பதிவு விமர்சிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள நிலையில், ஒற்றுமை மற்றும் நம்பிக்கையின் அடையாளமாக அவரது மரபு அப்படியே உள்ளது.

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Abraham Lincoln History in Tamil | ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கன் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு

ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கன் வாழ்க்கை வரலாறு.

Abraham Lincoln Life History in Tamil

ஆப்ரஹாம் லிங்கனின் வாழ்க்கையில் நடந்த முக்கிய நிகழ்வுகள்

1831-வியாபாரத்தில் தோல்வி 1832- சட்டசபைத் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1833- வியாபாரத்தில் மீண்டும் தோல்வி 1834- சட்டசபைத் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1836-சட்டசபைத் தலைவர் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1840- எலக்டர் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1843- காங்கிரஸ் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1848- காங்கிரஸ் தேர்தலில் மீண்டும் தோல்வி 1855- செனட் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1856- உதவி ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் தோல்வி 1858- செனட் தேர்தலில் தோல்வி இறுதியாக 1860-ல் ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் போட்டியிட்டு வெற்றி பெற்றார்.

• ஆபிரகாம் லிங்கன் பிறந்தது - ஞாயிறு
• முதல் முறையாக அமெரிக்க ஜெனாதிபதி ஆனது - திங்கள்
• இரண்டாவது முறையாக ஜெனாதிபதி ஆனது - செவ்வாய்
• வழக்கறிஞராக தம்மை பதிவு செய்து கொண்டது - புதன்
• பிரசித்தி பெற்ற கெட்டிஸ்பர்க்கில் உரையாற்றியது - வியாழன்
• லிங்கன் சுடப்பட்டது - வெள்ளி
• லிங்கன் உயிர் நீத்தது - சனி

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN - PICTURE BIOGRAPHY - TAMIL

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Abraham Lincoln

President Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union during the American Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people.

Quick Facts

Early life, parents, and education, how tall was abraham lincoln, wrestling hobby and legal career, wife and children, political career, lincoln and slavery, senate race, u.s. president, civil war begins, emancipation proclamation, gettysburg address, civil war ends and lincoln’s reelection, assassination and funeral, abraham lincoln’s hat, abraham lincoln in movies and tv, who was abraham lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln was the 16 th president of the United States , serving from 1861 to 1865, and is regarded as one of America’s greatest heroes due to his roles in guiding the Union through the Civil War and working to emancipate enslaved people. His eloquent support of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves across the Confederacy. Lincoln’s rise from humble beginnings to achieving the highest office in the land is a remarkable story, and his death is equally notably. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, at age 56, as the country was slowly beginning to reunify following the war. Lincoln’s distinctively humane personality and incredible impact on the nation have endowed him with an enduring legacy.

FULL NAME: Abraham Lincoln BORN: February 12, 1809 DIED: April 15, 1865 BIRTHPLACE: Hodgenville, Kentucky SPOUSE: Mary Todd Lincoln (m. 1842) CHILDREN: Robert Todd Lincoln , Edward Baker Lincoln, William Wallace Lincoln, and Thomas “Tad” Lincoln ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius HEIGHT: 6 feet 4 inches

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to parents Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln in rural Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Thomas was a strong and determined pioneer who found a moderate level of prosperity and was well respected in the community. The couple had two other children: Lincoln’s older sister, Sarah, and younger brother, Thomas, who died in infancy. His death wasn’t the only tragedy the family would endure.

In 1817, the Lincolns were forced to move from young Abraham’s Kentucky birthplace to Perry County, Indiana, due to a land dispute. In Indiana, the family “squatted” on public land to scrap out a living in a crude shelter, hunting game and farming a small plot. Lincoln’s father was eventually able to buy the land.

When Lincoln was 9 years old, his 34-year-old mother died of tremetol, more commonly known as milk sickness, on October 5, 1818. The event was devastating to the young boy, who grew more alienated from his father and quietly resented the hard work placed on him at an early age.

In December 1819, just over a year after his mother’s death, Lincoln’s father Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a Kentucky widow with three children of her own. She was a strong and affectionate woman with whom Lincoln quickly bonded.

Although both his parents were most likely illiterate, Thomas’ new wife Sarah encouraged Lincoln to read. It was while growing into manhood that Lincoln received his formal education—an estimated total of 18 months—a few days or weeks at a time.

Reading material was in short supply in the Indiana wilderness. Neighbors recalled how Lincoln would walk for miles to borrow a book. He undoubtedly read the family Bible and probably other popular books at that time such as Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progres s, and Aesop’s Fable s.

In March 1830, the family again migrated, this time to Macon County, Illinois. When his father moved the family again to Coles County, 22-year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, making a living in manual labor.

Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, rawboned and lanky yet muscular and physically strong. He spoke with a backwoods twang and walked with a long-striding gait. He was known for his skill in wielding an ax and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing.

Young Lincoln eventually migrated to the small community of New Salem, Illinois, where over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. It was through working with the public that Lincoln acquired social skills and honed a storytelling talent that made him popular with the locals.

Not surprising given his imposing frame, Lincoln was an excellent wrestler and had only one recorded loss—to Hank Thompson in 1832—over a span of 12 years. A shopkeeper who employed Lincoln in New Salem, Illinois, reportedly arranged bouts for him as a way to promote the business. Lincoln notably beat a local champion named Jack Armstrong and became somewhat of a hero. (The National Wrestling Hall of Fame posthumously gave Lincoln its Outstanding American Award in 1992.)

When the Black Hawk War broke out in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans, the volunteers in the area elected Lincoln to be their captain. He saw no combat during this time, save for “a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes,” but was able to make several important political connections.

As he was starting his political career in the early 1830s, Lincoln decided to become a lawyer. He taught himself the law by reading William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England . After being admitted to the bar in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and began to practice in the John T. Stuart law firm.

In 1844, Lincoln partnered with William Herndon in the practice of law. Although the two had different jurisprudent styles, they developed a close professional and personal relationship.

Lincoln made a good living in his early years as a lawyer but found that Springfield alone didn’t offer enough work. So to supplement his income, he followed the court as it made its rounds on the circuit to the various county seats in Illinois.

On November 4, 1842, Lincoln wed Mary Todd , a high-spirited, well-educated woman from a distinguished Kentucky family. Although they were married until Lincoln’s death, their relationship had a history of instability.

When the couple became engaged in 1840, many of their friends and family couldn’t understand Mary’s attraction; at times, Lincoln questioned it himself. In 1841, the engagement was suddenly broken off, most likely at Lincoln’s initiative. Mary and Lincoln met later at a social function and eventually did get married.

The couple had four sons— Robert Todd , Edward Baker, William Wallace, and Thomas “Tad”—of whom only Robert survived to adulthood.

Before marrying Todd, Lincoln was involved with other potential matches. Around 1837, he purportedly met and became romantically involved with Anne Rutledge. Before they had a chance to be engaged, a wave of typhoid fever came over New Salem, and Anne died at age 22.

Her death was said to have left Lincoln severely depressed. However, several historians disagree on the extent of Lincoln’s relationship with Rutledge, and his level of sorrow at her death might be more the makings of legend.

About a year after the death of Rutledge, Lincoln courted Mary Owens. The two saw each other for a few months, and marriage was considered. But in time, Lincoln called off the match.

In 1834, Lincoln began his political career and was elected to the Illinois state legislature as a member of the Whig Party . More than a decade later, from 1847 to 1849, he served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives. His foray into national politics seemed to be as unremarkable as it was brief. He was the lone Whig from Illinois, showing party loyalty but finding few political allies.

As a congressman, Lincoln used his term in office to speak out against the Mexican-American War and supported Zachary Taylor for president in 1848. His criticism of the war made him unpopular back home, and he decided not to run for second term. Instead, he returned to Springfield to practice law.

By the 1850s, the railroad industry was moving west, and Illinois found itself becoming a major hub for various companies. Lincoln served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad as its company attorney.

Success in several court cases brought other business clients as well, including banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing firms. Lincoln also worked in some criminal trials.

In one case, a witness claimed that he could identify Lincoln’s client who was accused of murder, because of the intense light from a full moon. Lincoln referred to an almanac and proved that the night in question had been too dark for the witness to see anything clearly. His client was acquitted.

As a member of the Illinois state legislature, Lincoln supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to economic development.

In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act , which repealed the Missouri Compromise , allowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. The law provoked violent opposition in Kansas and Illinois, and it gave rise to today’s Republican Party .

This awakened Lincoln’s political zeal once again, and his views on slavery moved more toward moral indignation. Lincoln joined the Republican Party in 1856.

In 1857, the Supreme Court issued its controversial Dred Scott decision, declaring Black people were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Although Lincoln felt Black people weren’t equal to whites, he believed America’s founders intended that all men were created with certain inalienable rights.

Lincoln decided to challenge sitting U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat. In his nomination acceptance speech, he criticized Douglas, the Supreme Court , and President James Buchanan for promoting slavery then declared “a house divided cannot stand.”

During Lincoln’s 1858 U.S. Senate campaign against Douglas, he participated in seven debates held in different cities across Illinois. The two candidates didn’t disappoint, giving stirring debates on issues such as states’ rights and western expansion. But the central issue was slavery.

Newspapers intensely covered the debates, often times with partisan commentary. In the end, the state legislature elected Douglas, but the exposure vaulted Lincoln into national politics.

With his newly enhanced political profile, in 1860, political operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to support Lincoln for the presidency. On May 18, at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln surpassed better-known candidates such as William Seward of New York and Salmon P. Chase of Ohio. Lincoln’s nomination was due, in part, to his moderate views on slavery, his support for improving the national infrastructure, and the protective tariff.

In the November 1860 general election, Lincoln faced his friend and rival Stephen Douglas, this time besting him in a four-way race that included John C. Breckinridge of the Northern Democrats and John Bell of the Constitution Party. Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the popular vote but carried 180 of 303 Electoral College votes, thus winning the U.S. presidency. He grew his trademark beard after his election.

Lincoln’s Cabinet

Following his election to the presidency in 1860, Lincoln selected a strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Edwin Stanton.

Formed out the adage “Hold your friends close and your enemies closer,” Lincoln’s cabinet became one of his strongest assets in his first term in office, and he would need them as the clouds of war gathered over the nation the following year.

Before Lincoln’s inauguration in March 1861, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union, and by April, the U.S. military installation Fort Sumter was under siege in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, the guns stationed to protect the harbor blazed toward the fort, signaling the start of the U.S. Civil War , America’s costliest and bloodiest war.

The newly President Lincoln responded to the crisis wielding powers as no other president before him: He distributed $2 million from the Treasury for war material without an appropriation from Congress; he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service without a declaration of war; and he suspended the writ of habeas corpus, allowing for the arrest and imprisonment of suspected Confederate States sympathizers without a warrant.

Crushing the rebellion would be difficult under any circumstances, but the Civil War, after decades of white-hot partisan politics, was especially onerous. From all directions, Lincoln faced disparagement and defiance. He was often at odds with his generals, his cabinet, his party, and a majority of the American people.

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln delivered his official Emancipation Proclamation , reshaping the cause of the Civil War from saving the Union to abolishing slavery.

The Union Army’s first year and a half of battlefield defeats made it difficult to keep morale high and support strong for a reunification of the nation. And the Union victory at Antietam on September 22, 1862, while by no means conclusive, was hopeful. It gave Lincoln the confidence to officially change the goals of the war. On that same day, he issued a preliminary proclamation that slaves in states rebelling against the Union would be free as of January 1.

The Emancipation Proclamation stated that all individuals who were held as enslaved people in rebellious states “henceforward shall be free.” The action was more symbolic than effective because the North didn’t control any states in rebellion, and the proclamation didn’t apply to border states, Tennessee, or some Louisiana parishes.

As a result, the Union army shared the Proclamation’s mandate only after it had taken control of Confederate territory. In the far reaches of western Texas, that day finally came on June 19, 1865—more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect. For decades, many Black Americans have celebrated this anniversary, known as Juneteenth or Emancipation Day, and in 2021, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday.

Still, the Emancipation Proclamation did have some immediate impact. It permitted Black Americans to serve in the Union Army for the first time, which contributed to the eventual Union victory. The historic declaration also paved the way for the passage of the 13 th Amendment that ended legal slavery in the United States.

On November 19, 1863, Lincoln delivered what would become his most famous speech and one of the most important speeches in American history: the Gettysburg Address .

Addressing a crowd of around 15,000 people, Lincoln delivered his 272-word speech at one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Civil War, the Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. The Civil War, Lincoln said, was the ultimate test of the preservation of the Union created in 1776, and the people who died at Gettysburg fought to uphold this cause.

Lincoln evoked the Declaration of Independence , saying it was up to the living to ensure that the “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” and this Union was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

A common interpretation was that the president was expanding the cause of the Civil War from simply reunifying the Union to also fighting for equality and abolishing slavery.

Following Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the war effort gradually improved for the North, though more by attrition than by brilliant military victories.

But by 1864, the Confederate armies had eluded major defeat and Lincoln was convinced he’d be a one-term president. His nemesis George B. McClellan , the former commander of the Army of the Potomac, challenged him for the presidency, but the contest wasn’t even close. Lincoln received 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 243 electoral votes.

On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee , commander of the Army of Virginia, surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses S. Grant . The Civil War was for all intents and purposes over.

Reconstruction had already began during the Civil War, as early as 1863 in areas firmly under Union military control, and Lincoln favored a policy of quick reunification with a minimum of retribution. He was confronted by a radical group of Republicans in Congress that wanted complete allegiance and repentance from former Confederates. Before a political debate had any chance to firmly develop, Lincoln was killed.

Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Lincoln was taken to the Petersen House across the street and laid in a coma for nine hours before dying the next morning. He was 56. His death was mourned by millions of citizens in the North and South alike.

Lincoln’s body first lay in state at the U. S. Capitol. About 600 invited guests attended a funeral in the East Room of the White House on April 19, though an inconsolable Mary Todd Lincoln wasn’t present.

His body was transported to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois, by a funeral train. Newspapers publicized the schedule of the train, which made stops along various cities that played roles in Lincoln’s path to Washington. In 10 cities, the casket was removed and placed in public for memorial services. Lincoln was finally placed in a tomb on May 4.

On the day of Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson was sworn in as the 17 th president at the Kirkwood House hotel in Washington.

Lincoln, already taller than most, is known for his distinctive top hats. Although it’s unclear when he began wearing them, historians believe he likely chose the style as a gimmick.

He wore a top hat to Ford’s Theatre on the night of his assassination. Following his death, the War Department preserved the hat until 1867 when, with Mary Todd Lincoln’s approval, it was transferred to the Patent Office and the Smithsonian Institution. Worried about the commotion it might cause, the Smithsonian stored the hat in a basement instead of putting it on display. It was finally exhibited in 1893, and it’s now one of the Institution’s most treasured items.

Lincoln is frequently cited by historians and average citizens alike as America’s greatest president. An aggressively activist commander-in-chief, Lincoln used every power at his disposal to assure victory in the Civil War and end slavery in the United States.

Some scholars doubt that the Union would have been preserved had another person of lesser character been in the White House. According to historian Michael Burlingame , “No president in American history ever faced a greater crisis and no president ever accomplished as much.”

Lincoln’s philosophy was perhaps best summed up in his Second Inaugural Address , when he stated, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

The Lincoln Memorial

Since its dedication in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington has honored the president’s legacy. Inspired by the Greek Parthenon, the monument features a 19-foot high statue of Lincoln and engravings of the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Former President William Howard Taft served as chair of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, which oversaw its design and construction.

The monument is the most visited in the city, attracting around 8 million people per year. Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the memorial’s steps in 1963.

Lincoln has been the subject of numerous films about his life and presidency, rooted in both realism and absurdity.

Among the earlier films featuring the former president is Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), which stars Henry Fonda and focuses on Lincoln’s early life and law career. A year later, Abe Lincoln in Illinois gave a dramatized account of Lincoln’s life after leaving Kentucky.

The most notable modern film is Lincoln , the 2012 biographical drama directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln and Sally Field as his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln . Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and the film was nominated for Best Picture.

A more fantastical depiction of Lincoln came in the 1989 comedy film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure , in which the titular characters played by Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter travel back in time for the president’s help in completing their high school history report. Lincoln gives the memorable instruction to “be excellent to each other and... party on, dudes!”

Another example is the 2012 action film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter , based on a 2010 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith. Benjamin Walker plays Lincoln, who leads a secret double life hunting the immortal creatures and even fighting them during the Civil War.

Lincoln’s role during the Civil War is heavily explored in the 1990 Ken Burns documentary The Civil War , which won two Emmy Awards and two Grammys. In 2022, the History Channel aired a three-part docuseries about his life simply titled Abraham Lincoln .

• Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
• I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
• No man is good enough to govern another man, without that other ’ s consent.
• I have learned the value of old friends by making many new ones.
• Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
• Whenever I hear anyone arguing over slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
• To give the victory to the right, not bloody bullets, but peaceful ballots only, are necessary.
• Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.
• Don ’ t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
• Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.
• With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation ’ s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
• I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.
• Nearly all men can handle adversity, if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
• I ’ m the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns.
• We can complain because rose bushes have thorns.
• Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
• It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

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Abraham Lincoln

By: History.com Editors

Updated: February 7, 2024 | Original: October 29, 2009

Abraham Lincoln , a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Lincoln proved to be a shrewd military strategist and a savvy leader: His Emancipation Proclamation paved the way for slavery’s abolition, while his Gettysburg Address stands as one of the most famous pieces of oratory in American history. 

In April 1865, with the Union on the brink of victory, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln’s assassination made him a martyr to the cause of liberty, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history.

Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky . His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816. Lincoln’s formal schooling was limited to three brief periods in local schools, as he had to work constantly to support his family.

In 1830, his family moved to Macon County in southern Illinois , and Lincoln got a job working on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans . After settling in the town of New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party , winning election to the Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster , Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, and had a grand vision of the expanding United States, with a focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Did you know? The war years were difficult for Abraham Lincoln and his family. After his young son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862, the emotionally fragile Mary Lincoln, widely unpopular for her frivolity and spendthrift ways, held seances in the White House in the hopes of communicating with him, earning her even more derision.

Lincoln taught himself law, passing the bar examination in 1836. The following year, he moved to the newly named state capital of Springfield. For the next few years, he worked there as a lawyer and served clients ranging from individual residents of small towns to national railroad lines.

He met Mary Todd , a well-to-do Kentucky belle with many suitors (including Lincoln’s future political rival, Stephen Douglas ), and they married in 1842. The Lincolns went on to have four children together, though only one would live into adulthood: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843–1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846–1850), William Wallace Lincoln (1850–1862) and Thomas “Tad” Lincoln (1853-1871).

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 and began serving his term the following year. As a congressman, Lincoln was unpopular with many Illinois voters for his strong stance against the Mexican-American War. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield in 1849.

Events conspired to push him back into national politics, however: Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence .

With the Whig Party in ruins, Lincoln joined the new Republican Party–formed largely in opposition to slavery’s extension into the territories–in 1856 and ran for the Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for the seat in 1855 as well). In June, Lincoln delivered his now-famous “house divided” speech, in which he quoted from the Gospels to illustrate his belief that “this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.”

Lincoln then squared off against Douglas in a series of famous debates; though he lost the Senate election, Lincoln’s performance made his reputation nationally. 

Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign

Lincoln’s profile rose even higher in early 1860 after he delivered another rousing speech at New York City’s Cooper Union. That May, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing over Senator William H. Seward of New York and other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer with only one undistinguished congressional term under his belt.

In the general election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; southern Democrats had nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, while John Bell ran for the brand new Constitutional Union Party. With Breckenridge and Bell splitting the vote in the South, Lincoln won most of the North and carried the Electoral College to win the White House .

He built an exceptionally strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and Edwin M. Stanton .

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

After years of sectional tensions, the election of an antislavery northerner as the 16th president of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated as 16th U.S. president in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America .

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply the federal Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates fired on both the fort and the Union fleet, beginning the Civil War . Hopes for a quick Union victory were dashed by defeat in the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) , and Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops as both sides prepared for a long conflict.

While the Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former secretary of war, Lincoln had only a brief and undistinguished period of service in the Black Hawk War (1832) to his credit. He surprised many when he proved to be a capable wartime leader, learning quickly about strategy and tactics in the early years of the Civil War, and about choosing the ablest commanders.

General George McClellan , though beloved by his troops, continually frustrated Lincoln with his reluctance to advance, and when McClellan failed to pursue Robert E. Lee’s retreating Confederate Army in the aftermath of the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln removed him from command.

During the war, Lincoln drew criticism for suspending some civil liberties, including the right of habeas corpus , but he considered such measures necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation , which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of the enslaved people in the rebellious states not under federal control, but left those in the border states (loyal to the Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln once maintained that his “paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery,” he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as one of his greatest achievements and would argue for the passage of a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery (eventually passed as the 13th Amendment after his death in 1865).

Two important Union victories in July 1863—at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania—finally turned the tide of the war. General George Meade missed the opportunity to deliver a final blow against Lee’s army at Gettysburg, and Lincoln would turn by early 1864 to the victor at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant , as supreme commander of the Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief speech (just 272 words) at the dedication ceremony for the new national cemetery at Gettysburg. Published widely, the Gettysburg Address eloquently expressed the war’s purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of human equality. It became the most famous speech of Lincoln’s presidency, and one of the most widely quoted speeches in history.

Abraham Lincoln Wins 1864 Presidential Election

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic nominee, the former Union General George McClellan, but Union victories in battle (especially General William T. Sherman’s capture of Atlanta in September) swung many votes the president’s way. In his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed the need to reconstruct the South and rebuild the Union: “With malice toward none; with charity for all.”

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas after staging his March to the Sea from Atlanta, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House , Virginia , on April 9. Union victory was near, and Lincoln gave a speech on the White House lawn on April 11, urging his audience to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live to help carry out his vision of Reconstruction .

Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

On the night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. Lincoln was carried to a boardinghouse across the street from the theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in the early morning hours of April 15, 1865.

Lincoln’s assassination made him a national martyr. On April 21, 1865, a train carrying his coffin left Washington, D.C. on its way to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train traveled through 180 cities and seven states so mourners could pay homage to the fallen president.

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

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

“Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.”

“I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”

“I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.”

“I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle.”

“This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.”

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

“This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

HISTORY Vault: Abraham Lincoln

A definitive biography of the 16th U.S. president, the man who led the country during its bloodiest war and greatest crisis.

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Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but read voraciously when not working on his father’s farm.  A childhood friend later recalled Lincoln's "manic" intellect, and the sight of him red-eyed and tousle-haired as he pored over books late into the night.  In 1828, at the age of nineteen, he accompanied a produce-laden flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana—his first visit to a large city--and then walked back home.  Two years later, trying to avoid health and finance troubles, Lincoln's father moved the family moved to Illinois.

After moving away from home, Lincoln co-owned a general store for several years before selling his stake and enlisting as a militia captain defending Illinois in the Black Hawk War of 1832.  Black Hawk, a Sauk chief, believed he had been swindled by a recent land deal and sought to resettle his old holdings.  Lincoln did not see direct combat during the short conflict, but the sight of corpse-strewn battlefields at Stillman's Run and Kellogg's Grove deeply affected him. As a captain, he developed a reputation for pragmatism and integrity.  Once, faced with a rail fence during practice maneuvers and forgetting the parade-ground instructions to direct his men over it, he simply ordered them to fall out and reassemble on the other side a minute later.  Another time, he stopped his men before they executed a wandering Native American as a spy.  Stepping in front of their raised muskets, Lincoln is said to have challenged his men to combat for the terrified native's life.  His men stood down.

After the war, he studied law and campaigned for a seat on the Illinois State Legislature. Although not elected in his first attempt, Lincoln persevered and won the position in 1834, serving as a Whig.

Abraham Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois where he was practicing as a lawyer. They were married in 1842 over her family’s objections and had four sons.  Only one lived to adulthood.  The deep melancholy that pervaded the Lincoln family, with occasional detours into outright madness, is in some ways sourced in their close relationship with death. 

Lincoln, a self-described "prairie lawyer," focused on his all-embracing law practice in the early 1850s after one term in Congress from 1847 to 1849. He joined the new Republican party—and the ongoing argument over sectionalism—in 1856. A series of heated debates in 1858 with Stephen A. Douglas , the sponsor of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act , over slavery and its place in the United States forged Lincoln into a prominent figure in national politics. Lincoln’s anti-slavery platform made him extremely unpopular with Southerners and his nomination for President in 1860 enraged them.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single Southern state.  Talk of secession, bandied about since the 1830s, took on a serious new tone. The Civil War was not entirely caused by Lincoln’s election, but the election was one of the primary reasons the war broke out the following year.

Lincoln’s decision to fight rather than to let the Southern states secede was not based on his feelings towards slavery.  Rather, he felt it was his sacred duty as President of the United States to preserve the Union at all costs.  His first inaugural address was an appeal to the rebellious states, seven of which had already seceded, to rejoin the nation.  His first draft of the speech ended with an ominous message: "Shall it be peace, or the sword?" 

The Civil War began with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter , South Carolina, on April 12, 1861.  Fort Sumter, situated in the Charleston Harbour, was a Union outpost in the newly seceded Confederate territory. Lincoln, learning that the Fort was running low on food, sent supplies to reinforce the soldiers there. The Southern navy repulsed the supply convoy. After this repulse, the Southern navy fired the first shot of the war at Fort Sumter and the Federal defenders surrendered after a 34-hour long battle. 

Throughout the war, Lincoln struggled to find capable generals for his armies.  As commander-in-chief, he legally held the highest rank in the United States armed forces, and he diligently exercised his authority through strategic planning, weapons testing, and the promotion and demotion of officers.  McDowell , Fremont, McClellan , Pope , McClellan again, Buell , Burnside , Rosecrans --all of these men and more withered under Lincoln's watchful eye as they failed to bring him success on the battlefield. 

He did not issue his famous Emancipation Proclamation until January 1, 1863 after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam .  The Emancipation Proclamation, which was legally based on the President’s right to seize the property of those in rebellion against the State, only freed slaves in Southern states where Lincoln’s forces had no control. Nevertheless, it changed the tenor of the war, making it, from the Northern point of view, a fight both to preserve the Union and to end slavery.

In 1864, Lincoln ran again for President.  After years of war, he feared he would not win.  Only in the final months of the campaign did the exertions of Ulysses S. Grant , the quiet general now in command of all of the Union armies, begin to bear fruit.  A string of heartening victories buoyed Lincoln's ticket and contributed significantly to his re-election.  In his second inauguration speech , March 4, 1865, he set the tone he intended to take when the war finally ended. His one goal, he said, was “lasting peace among ourselves.” He called for “malice towards none” and “charity for all.” The war ended only a month later.

The Lincoln administration did more than just manage the Civil War, although its reverberations could still be felt in a number of policies.  The Revenue Act of 1862 established the United States' first income tax, largely to pay the costs of total war.  The Morrill Act of 1862 established the basis of the state university system in this country, while the Homestead Act, also passed in 1862, encouraged settlement of the West by offering 160 acres of free land to settlers.  Lincoln also created the Department of Agriculture and formally instituted the Thanksgiving holiday.  Internationally, he navigated the "Trent Affair," a diplomatic crisis regarding the seizure of a British ship carrying Confederate envoys, in such a way as to quell the saber-rattling overtures coming from Britain as well as the United States.  In another spill-over from the war, Lincoln restricted the civil liberties of due process and freedom of the press. 

On April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., Abraham Lincoln was shot by Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth.  The assassination was part of a larger plot to eliminate the Northern government that also left Secretary of State William Seward grievously injured.  Lincoln died the following day, and with him the hope of reconstructing the nation without bitterness.

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