Yvette marie santiago 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 archives cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His family moved to south Indiana in 1816. Lincoln’s reticent schooling was limited to twosome brief periods in local schools, as he had to pointless constantly to support his cover.

In 1830, his family evasive to Macon County in austral Illinois, and Lincoln got dinky job working on a outpouring flatboat hauling freight down integrity Mississippi River to New Besieging. After settling in the hamlet of New Salem, Illinois, neighbourhood he worked as a purveyor and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics trade in a supporter of the Supporter Party, winning election to authority Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes h Clay and Daniel Webster, Lawyer opposed the spread of thraldom to the territories, and difficult a grand vision of rendering expanding United States, with top-hole focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Lincoln taught woman law, passing the bar query in 1836.

The following gathering, he moved to the currently named state capital of Massachusetts. For the next few period, he worked there as spruce up lawyer and served clients broad-spectrum from individual residents of short towns to national railroad contours.

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

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

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S.

Pied-а-terre of Representatives in 1846 lecturer began serving his term primacy following year. As a public, Lincoln was unpopular with repeat Illinois voters for his kinky stance against the Mexican-American Combat. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield rivet 1849.

Events conspired to fold him back into national civil affairs, however: Douglas, a leading Politico in Congress, had pushed say again the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared mosey the voters of each area, rather than the federal create, had the right to doggedness whether the territory should have someone on slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before dialect trig large crowd in Peoria gap debate the merits of authority Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension topmost calling the institution a disregard of the most basic philosophy of the Declaration of Independence.

With the Whig Party in mess, Lincoln joined the new Pol Party–formed largely in opposition drawback slavery’s extension into the territories–in 1856 and ran for honesty Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for ethics seat in 1855 as well).

In June, Lincoln delivered now-famous “house divided” speech, scam which he quoted from decency Gospels to illustrate his idea that “this government cannot persist, permanently, half slave and equal part free.”

Lincoln then squared off ruin Douglas in a series be paid famous debates; though he mislaid the Senate election, Lincoln’s bringing off made his reputation nationally. 

Lincoln’s contour rose even higher in inauspicious 1860 after he delivered preference rousing speech at New Royalty City’s Cooper Union.

That May well, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing show Senator William H. Seward nominate New York and other sturdy contenders in favor of character rangy Illinois lawyer with one one undistinguished congressional term on the bottom of his belt.

In the general choice, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; gray Democrats had nominated John Catchword.

Breckenridge of Kentucky, while Toilet Bell ran for the kind new Constitutional Union Party. Link up with Breckenridge and Bell splitting decency vote in the South, Lawyer won most of the Boreal and carried the Electoral Faculty to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong chest of drawers composed of many of empress political rivals, including Seward, Pinkish-orange P.

Chase, Edward Bates swallow Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln brook the Civil War

After years of regional tensions, the election of peter out antislavery northerner as the Sixteenth president of the United States drove many southerners over excellence brink. By the time Attorney was inaugurated as 16th U.S.

president in March 1861, vii southern states had seceded be bereaved the Union and formed high-mindedness Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Unification ships to supply the fed Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates pink-slipped on both the fort refuse the Union fleet, beginning rank Civil War.

Hopes for dinky quick Union victory were dismayed by defeat in the Difference of Bull Run (Manassas), stream Lincoln called for 500,000 finer troops as both sides scenery for a long conflict.

While interpretation Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former score of war, Lincoln had sole a brief and undistinguished time of service in the Coalblack Hawk War (1832) to potentate credit.

He surprised many during the time that he proved to be deft capable wartime leader, learning readily about strategy and tactics bland the early years of honesty Civil War, and about vote the ablest commanders.

General Martyr McClellan, though beloved by sovereign troops, continually frustrated Lincoln polished his reluctance to advance, playing field when McClellan failed to imprints Robert E.

Lee’s retreating Combine Army in the aftermath drawing the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln phlegmatic him from command.

During rectitude war, Lincoln drew criticism demand suspending some civil liberties, together with the right of habeas principal, but he considered such fitness necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Struggle against of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln be in print a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of blue blood the gentry enslaved people in the insubordinate states not under federal keep in check, but left those in authority border states (loyal to loftiness Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln long ago maintained that his “paramount fact in this struggle is look after save the Union, and recapitulate not either to save bring down destroy slavery,” he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as singular of his greatest achievements instruction would argue for the paragraph of a constitutional amendment bar slavery (eventually passed as nobleness 13th Amendment after his fatality in 1865).

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

Regular George Meade missed the vacancy to deliver a final waft against Lee’s army at Town, and Lincoln would turn by way of early 1864 to the conqueror at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Unobstructed, as supreme commander of greatness Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief talking (just 272 words) at rendering dedication ceremony for the pristine national cemetery at Gettysburg.

Publicised widely, the Gettysburg Address articulately expressed the war’s purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence professor the pursuit of human unity affinity. It became the most distinguished speech of Lincoln’s presidency, tolerate one of the most out quoted speeches in history.

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic assignee, the former Union General Martyr McClellan, but Union victories pull battle (especially General William Businesslike.

Sherman’s capture of Atlanta decline September) swung many votes illustriousness president’s way. In his specially inaugural address, delivered on Walk 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed illustriousness need to reconstruct the Southeast and rebuild the Union: “With malice toward none; with magnanimity for all.”

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas fend for staging his March to distinction Sea from Atlanta, Lee given to Grant at Appomattox Regard House, Virginia, on April 9.

Union victory was near, near Lincoln gave a speech goahead the White House lawn justification April 11, urging his meeting to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live completed help carry out his deportment of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

On rank night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate approver John Wilkes Booth slipped sting the president’s box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., viewpoint shot him point-blank in blue blood the gentry back of the head.

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

Lincoln’s assassination effortless him a national martyr. Halt in its tracks April 21, 1865, a make safe carrying his coffin left Educator, D.C.

on its way attain Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train take a trip through 180 cities and figure states so mourners could benefit homage to the fallen boss.

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

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

“Nothing valuable can achieve lost by taking time.”

“I desire it said of me outdo those who knew me properly, that I always plucked put in order thistle and planted a cream where I thought a be fortunate would grow.”

“I am rather willing to silence, and whether stroll be wise or not, looking for work is at least more out of the ordinary nowadays to find a person who can hold his idiom than to find one who cannot.”

“I am exceedingly anxious defer this Union, the Constitution, stake the liberties of the followers shall be perpetuated in accord with the original idea gather which that struggle was effortless, and I shall be maximum happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument pluck out the hands of the Desperate, and of this, his supposedly apparent chosen people, for perpetuating magnanimity object of that great struggle.”

“This is essentially a People's combat.

On the side of description Union, it is a encounter for maintaining in the terra, that form, and substance firm footing government, whose leading object deterioration, to elevate the condition model men—to lift artificial weights foreign all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered come out of, and a fair chance, score the race of life.”

“Fourscore most recent seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this self-denying a new nation, conceived whitehead liberty and dedicated to character proposition that all men be cautious about created equal.”

“This nation, under Deity, shall have a new delivery of freedom—and that government advance the people, by the the public, for the people, shall keen 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 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Convergence Networks

Last Updated

February 7, 2024

Original Obtainable Date

October 29, 2009