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Abraham Lincoln; Life and times
Abraham Lincoln; Life and times
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Childhood
Abraham Lincoln was born in a small, one bedroom, log cabin in Hodgenville,
Kentucky on Febuary 12, 1809. His parents Thomas, and Nancy Hanks Lincoln were
poor, uneducated pioneers. Abraham was one of two kids, he had one sister named
Sarah, she was a couple of years older than Abraham.
Abraham was not the average child he was a very tall person, he believed in higher
education, he attended school as much as he could most of the time just for a couple of
weeks at a time. The school that Abraham attended had no books and had benches made
out of trees cut in half down the middle to make a rounded but smooth top bench. With
no books the children would learn their lessons by saying them outloud. The children of
this school could always be heard from a distance reciting the days lessons.
In December, 1816, Abraham and his family picked up their belongings and
moved about 100 miles north to southern Indiana. In the midst of winter the family was
not able to make a permanent log home structure, instead that whole winter they lived in a
three sided shelter with a fire at the front of it and beds in the back. It was not until the
spring when Abraham and his father, Thomas, began clearing the land and building
permanent structures such as barns and a log home. Although Abraham was only eight
years old he had already begun to fulfill the duties of his father. He was splitting rails for
fences for the cows, and horses.
In 1818, Abraham was only nine when his mother, Nancy, died of a epidemic she
caught from the milk of cows. His father, Thomas, traveled all the way down to Kentucky
to find and Marry a new wife, Sarah Bush Johnston, she was a widow with three children
who all came to live with the lincolns in Indiana.
Taking a Life of his own
The Lincolns didn’t stay in Indiana for long, in 1830, the family picked up and
moved to Decatur, Illinois. Unsatisfied with the land, Thomas, picked up and moved to
Coles County. Abraham, now 22, did not go along. He stayed in Decatur holding a job as
a flat boat conductor, he frequently made trips to New Orleans. When Lincoln made his
first voyage down the river, he witnessed acts of violence that horrified him, he stopped
on towns along the river and see slavery and black being beaten and sold off like cows.
Lincoln, who then took a job working as a cashier at a general store, always had a
crowd. Lincoln was good at telling stories and people always liked to listen. He soon
became a popular figure of the town and then took aim at running for office for the Illinois
Legislature. So in March, of 1832, Lincoln announced his candidacy for Legislature.
While attempting to run for office the Black Hawk War broke out Lincoln inlisted and
served as a Captain of his company. After returning he continued to campaign but was
defeated. He was eighth of 13 in the field of candidates.
After losing in his legislative attemps, Lincoln and a friend opened a store and
Lincoln was Postmaster. The store led him into debt he dropped the store and worked as
a surveyer to finish paying off the debts that the store had accumulated. In 1834 Lincoln
run for Legislative office again and won. The same year he studied and passes the number
2 bar examination and began to practice law. He began a law partnership with fellow
legislator John T. Stuart.
For the next two and a half decadeds Lincoln practiced law in Lincoln. In
Springfield, Lincoln met Mary Todd, who was the daughter of a prominate Kentucky
family. They were married and bought a house in Springfield. They went on to have 4
children 3 of which died in the early years of their life.
President Bound
In 1854 Lincoln stepped back into the political spotlight after leaving for 6 years
after not being renominated for the Illinois Legislature. He was debating Senator Stephen
A. Douglas of Illinois, a Democratic leader who was negotiating terms for the Kansas and
Nebraska territories which was given the decision of deciding if they would be a slave or
non-slave state. Douglas, who believed in “popular sovereignty”, or the popular descision
of the public, said that it should be up to the people of the state. Lincoln said that you
cannot let a half of nation be free and the other slavery. With the many public debates
against Douglas, brought Lincoln fame in the public eye. On November the Sixth, 1860
he was nominated for President. Lincoln beat Douglas by a margin of the majority vote.
Civil War
Shortly after the election of Lincoln for President. South Carolina was prompt to
seceed from the Union in late 1860. After trying to compromise failed, six other southern
states follow with suceeding from the Union. Concerns were focused on the federal
troops in the island base of Fort Sumpter, just off the coast of South Carolina. Lincoln
ordered the sending of supplies but not troops to the base. It was all to late and on April
12, 1861, the “shot heard round the world” started the war with the attack of Fort
Sumpter.
Lincoln continued to make a strong stand against the south and the commitment to
the Union. he said he would face war before letting the Union fall to pieces. The war
raged on for four years. Lincoln issued his most famous speech of his career the
Emancipation Proclamation. The turning point of the civil war was with the battle of
Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. After this battle the Union took over with controlling the
Souths invasion.
On April 9, 1965, General Lee, the commander of the Souths Army Surrendered
at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. In the midst of the victory celebration, just five
nights after the surrendering of Lee. Lincoln attended a play with his wife at Ford’s
Theater in Washington D.C., Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes
Boothe. On April 15, 1865 Lincoln died from his wounds.
©1996 Compu-Intellegence
Email: kylekaiser@hotmail.com
