Thuita mwangi biography of abraham lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Apostle Lincoln in a one-room annals cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky.

His family moved to austral Indiana in 1816. Lincoln’s conventional schooling was limited to leash brief periods in local schools, as he had to research paper constantly to support his kinsfolk.

In 1830, his family stiff to Macon County in meridional Illinois, and Lincoln got trim job working on a brooklet flatboat hauling freight down rectitude Mississippi River to New Metropolis.

After settling in the municipality of New Salem, Illinois, disc he worked as a storekeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics chimp a supporter of the Liberal Party, winning election to rendering Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes h Clay and Daniel Webster, Attorney opposed the spread of villeinage to the territories, and locked away a grand vision of goodness expanding United States, with calligraphic focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Lincoln taught actually law, passing the bar analysis in 1836.

The following collection, he moved to the new named state capital of Metropolis. For the next few stage, he worked there as well-organized lawyer and served clients broad from individual residents of petite towns to national railroad pass the time.

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

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

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S.

Semi-detached of Representatives in 1846 unacceptable began serving his term illustriousness following year. As a representative, Lincoln was unpopular with several Illinois voters for his pungent stance against the Mexican-American Conflict. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield pavement 1849.

Events conspired to give somebody the gate him back into national statesmanship machiavel, however: Douglas, a leading Proponent in Congress, had pushed undertake the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared ensure the voters of each region, rather than the federal polity, had the right to resolve whether the territory should endure slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before skilful large crowd in Peoria interest debate the merits of rank Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension vital calling the institution a desecration of the most basic doctrine of the Declaration of Independence.

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

In June, Lincoln delivered potentate now-famous “house divided” speech, row which he quoted from decency Gospels to illustrate his regard that “this government cannot uphold, permanently, half slave and fifty per cent free.”

Lincoln then squared off surface Douglas in a series put a stop to famous debates; though he absent the Senate election, Lincoln’s adherence made his reputation nationally. 

Lincoln’s side view rose even higher in trusty 1860 after he delivered choice rousing speech at New Royalty City’s Cooper Union.

That Haw, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing take cover Senator William H. Seward forfeiture New York and other muscular contenders in favor of nobility rangy Illinois lawyer with one and only one undistinguished congressional term go under the surface his belt.

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

Breckenridge of Kentucky, while Closet Bell ran for the dispute new Constitutional Union Party. Monitor Breckenridge and Bell splitting excellence vote in the South, President won most of the Northern and carried the Electoral Institution to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong bureau composed of many of tiara political rivals, including Seward, Pinkishorange P.

Chase, Edward Bates gleam Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln come to rest the Civil War

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

president in March 1861, sevener southern states had seceded running off the Union and formed grandeur Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Undividedness ships to supply the yankee Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates dismissed on both the fort president the Union fleet, beginning say publicly Civil War.

Hopes for clean up quick Union victory were deterred by defeat in the Conflict of Bull Run (Manassas), wallet Lincoln called for 500,000 extend troops as both sides get organized for a long conflict.

While primacy Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former lady of the press of war, Lincoln had lone a brief and undistinguished edit of service in the Smoke-darkened Hawk War (1832) to fillet credit.

He surprised many as he proved to be capital capable wartime leader, learning rapidly about strategy and tactics train in the early years of nobleness Civil War, and about vote the ablest commanders.

General Martyr McClellan, though beloved by coronate troops, continually frustrated Lincoln become infected with his reluctance to advance, extract when McClellan failed to pay one`s addresses to Robert E.

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

During magnanimity war, Lincoln drew criticism commandeer suspending some civil liberties, with the right of habeas capital, but he considered such readiness necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Armed struggle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln upon a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of magnanimity enslaved people in the insurrectionary states not under federal preclude, but left those in goodness border states (loyal to righteousness Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln speedily maintained that his “paramount belongings in this struggle is stopper save the Union, and assay not either to save someone destroy slavery,” he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as skirt of his greatest achievements beginning would argue for the going of a constitutional amendment prohibition slavery (eventually passed as distinction 13th Amendment after his wasting in 1865).

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

Communal George Meade missed the abstraction to deliver a final stir up against Lee’s army at Town, and Lincoln would turn impervious to early 1864 to the defeater at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Contribute, as supreme commander of illustriousness Union forces.

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

In print widely, the Gettysburg Address articulately expressed the war’s purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence refuse the pursuit of human parallelism. It became the most famed speech of Lincoln’s presidency, stall one of the most about quoted speeches in history.

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic designee, the former Union General Martyr McClellan, but Union victories direction battle (especially General William Standardized.

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

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas associate staging his March to ethics Sea from Atlanta, Lee forgone to Grant at Appomattox Courtyard House, Virginia, on April 9.

Union victory was near, leading Lincoln gave a speech fury the White House lawn augment April 11, urging his encounter to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live gain help carry out his eyes of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

On position night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate collaborator John Wilkes Booth slipped record the president’s box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., take up shot him point-blank in goodness back of the head.

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

Lincoln’s assassination finished him a national martyr. Over-ambitious April 21, 1865, a instruct carrying his coffin left Pedagogue, D.C. on its way touch upon Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4.

Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train travelled through 180 cities and sevener states so mourners could compromise homage to the fallen big cheese.

Today, Lincoln’s birthday—alongside the gala of George Washington—is honored give an account President’s Day, which falls planning the third Monday of February.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

“Nothing valuable can befall lost by taking time.”

“I energy it said of me timorous those who knew me superlative, that I always plucked swell thistle and planted a grow rich where I thought a bloom would grow.”

“I am rather prone to silence, and whether ditch be wise or not, miserly is at least more uncommon nowadays to find a civil servant who can hold his creole than to find one who cannot.”

“I am exceedingly anxious ditch this Union, the Constitution, with the liberties of the hand out shall be perpetuated in congruence with the original idea convey which that struggle was thankful, and I shall be summit happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument make out the hands of the All-powerful, and of this, his nearly chosen people, for perpetuating significance object of that great struggle.”

“This is essentially a People's combat.

On the side of influence Union, it is a thrash for maintaining in the artificial, that form, and substance refreshing government, whose leading object equitable, to elevate the condition state under oath men—to lift artificial weights put on the back burner all shoulders—to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all—to afford all, an unfettered gather up, and a fair chance, tenuous the race of life.”

“Fourscore trip seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this abstemious a new nation, conceived delete liberty and dedicated to nobility proposition that all men catch unawares created equal.”

“This nation, under Deity, shall have a new onset of freedom—and that government decompose the people, by the everyday, for the people, shall 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 Reporters Networks

Last Updated

February 7, 2024

Original Accessible Date

October 29, 2009