Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln


Lincoln, Abraham (1809-65), 16th president of the United States (1861-65), who

steered the Union to victory in the American Civil War and abolished slavery.


Early Life


Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, the son of

Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln, pioneer farmers. At the age of two he was taken

by his parents to nearby Knob Creek and at eight to Spencer County, Indiana. The

following year his mother died. In 1819 his father married Sarah Bush Johnston,

a kindly widow, who soon gained the boy's affection. Lincoln grew up a tall,

gangling youth, who could hold his own in physical contests and also showed

great intellectual promise, although he had little formal education. In 1831,

after moving with his family to Macon County, Illinois, he struck out on his own,

taking cargo on a flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana. He then returned to

Illinois and settled in New Salem, a short-lived community on the Sangamon River,

where he split rails and clerked in a store. He gained the respect of his fellow

townspeople, including the so-called Clary Grove boys, who had challenged him to

physical combat, and was elected captain of his company in the Black Hawk War

(1832). Returning from the war, he began an unsuccessful venture in shopkeeping

that ended when his partner died. In 1833 he was appointed postmaster but had to

supplement his income with surveying and various other jobs. At the same time he

began to study law. That he gradually paid off his and his deceased partner's

debts firmly established his reputation for honesty. The story of his romance

with Ann Rutledge, a local young woman whom he knew briefly before her untimely

death, is unsubstantiated.


Illinois Politician and Lawyer


Defeated in 1832 in a race for the state legislature, Lincoln was elected on the

Whig ticket two years later and served in the lower house from 1834 to 1841. He

quickly emerged as one of the leaders of the party and was one of the authors of

the removal of the capital to Springfield, where he settled in 1837. After his

admission to the bar (1836), he entered into successive partnerships with John T.

Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, and William Herndon, and soon won recognition as an

effective and resourceful attorney. In 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd, the

daughter of a prominent Kentucky banker, and despite her somewhat difficult

disposition, the marriage seems to have been reasonably successful. The Lincolns

had four children, only one of whom reached adulthood. His birth in a slave

state notwithstanding, Lincoln had long opposed slavery. In the legislature he

voted against resolutions favorable to the "peculiar institution" and in 1837

was one of two members who signed a protest against it. Elected to Congress in

1846, he attracted attention because of his outspoken criticism of the war with

Mexico and formulated a plan for gradual emancipation in the District of

Columbia. He was not an abolitionist, however. Conceding the right of the states

to manage their own affairs, he merely sought to prevent the spread of human

bondage.


National Recognition Disappointed in a quest for federal office at the end of

his one term in Congress (1847-49), Lincoln returned to Springfield to pursue

his profession. In 1854, however, because of his alarm at Senator Stephen A.

Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act, he became politically active again. Clearly

setting forth his opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he argued

that the measure was wrong because slavery was wrong and that Congress should

keep the territories free for actual settlers (as opposed to those who traveled

there mainly to vote for or against slavery). The following year he ran for the

U.S. Senate, but seeing that he could not win, he yielded to Lyman Trumbull, a

Democrat who opposed Douglas's bill. He campaigned for the newly founded

Republican party in 1856, and in 1858 he became its senatorial candidate against

Douglas. In a speech to the party's state convention that year he warned that "a

house divThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!


Get This Full Article After Registration



When you subscribe to Electronic References, you get complete access to the meta-collection of full text articles and papers written by researchers and students spanning the last 5 years. For $19.95 a month, you will receive unlimited access and the ability to expand your research opportunities and knowledge.

This subscription package includes:

24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week unlimited access on any computer with Internet access
Complete access to all 60,000 articles, essays, and research papers
Ability to view, save, print and download any document you find
Ability to browse through perfectly arranged catalog of articles
Superior search and relevancy ranking techniques using our optimalized search engine
Instant access to the online database after registration


You can pay by credit card or checking account. You get instant access after registration:




1 Month ($ 19.95)
3 Months ($ 29.95)
6 Months ($ 39.95)





You will be billed $19.95 every 30 days or $29.95 every 90 days (recurring billing) starting on the day you subscribe.

Your credit card or checking account will automatically be renewed for your convenience until you cancel.