Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. (Lincoln) Abraham Lincoln was a true American hero. He brought this country through a time of succession and rebellion, through his thoughtful planning, tyranny like leadership, and amiable individuality. He, with a half a nation of armed forces, liberated the slaves and united a nation. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin on a farm in Hardin country, Kentucky.
He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and was named after his grandfather (Lincoln). Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and farmer. Both of Abraham’s parents were members of a Baptist congregation, which had separated from another church due to the disagreement of slavery. (needy pg 121) He as a young child spent a lot of the day doing one of two things; reading books, or doing household tasks. In 1816, when Abraham was 7, he moved with his family to Indiana. There his mother died in 1818 of a milk sickness, a disease obtained from drinking the milk of cows, which had grazed on poisonous white snakeroot.
This devastated Abe “God bless my mother. All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe to her. ” (Lincoln) When he was 15 years old he often worked as a hired hand on other farms. While he plowed or split fence rails, he usually had book tucked in his shirt to read while on his lunch breaks. Once a farmer loaned him The Life of George Washington, by Parson Weems, and Abe accidentally left it in the rain. To pay for the damage, Abe shucked corn for him for three days. Throughout his life Abraham Lincoln made every effort to do be fair, hence he came to be know as “Honest Abe”.
This fairness that he learned in his child hood would stay with him the rest of his life. Using his skill as a speaker and Ethics on slavery Abraham and his running mate Hannibal Hamlin ran for the presidential seat for the Republican Party in 1860. They set out on a long campaign, of mostly northern states, sometimes they were the only ones traveling. They spoke many places such as Illinois, Missouri and many others. This devoted work paid off as Lincoln was appointed the 16th president of the United States of America November 6, 1860. (Norton) After the election was over the president and his wife moved to the white house.
Right before he left, though he received a letter from a 11 year old girl. “My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. ” (Bedell, letter to Lincoln) This letter made him grow out his beard, which she said that his face was to skinny.
He found this to be the look for him and he kept it Intel his assassination. Before Mr. Lincoln and his wife could get to the white house a first wave of secession occurred. On December 20, 1860 and in tell February 1, 1861 the following states seceded, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. They seceded because they said that they feared the kind of government that Abraham Lincoln and the republican party would bring. Then following the inauguration of Lincoln, the second wave began on April 17 with the secession of Virginia. This wave was continued by Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Abraham hated the secession, a month into it he had a group called the Zouies lead by his friend Elmer Ellsworth march into Alexandria were he could see a flying confederate flag from a high tower. The Zouies took the flag down that Lincoln hated however his friend Elmer was killed in this process. As a hero Abraham Lincoln took to the war effort as soon as possible. He rounded up a army of nearly 70,000 men, and defend against a attack on union soil from general of the southern army, Irvin McDowell. The battle sent the union troops back across the border to Washington.
This being the first battle of the civil war called “bull run” Abraham Lincoln was unhappy at this, he had appointed general McDowell which had not been a good choice. Aware of the threat of a drawn out war and the army’s need for organization and training, Lincoln replaced McDowell with General George B. McClellan and sent a blockade around the south. From Lincolns first day in the white house, he faced the irreconcilable conflict between slavery and abolition. (Ben Wittenberg) He realized that if he were to abolish slavery flat out the 4 remaining states would secede. The union would have to have the four states to win the war.
He passed many subtle laws that would lead up to his emancipation proclamation. Lincoln’s domestic policies included support for the Homestead Act. This act allowed poor people in the East to obtain land in the West. Also, Lincoln signed legislation entitled the National Banking Act, which established a national currency and provided for the creation of a network of national banks. In addition, he signed tariff legislation that offered protection to American industry and signed a bill that chartered the first transcontinental railroad. All of these things made helped win the civil war. (Norton)
Lincolns most famous Speech, the Gettysburg Address, Showed just how much he cared about this country. He gave it at Gettysburg after the bloody battle was done. He recited it to hundreds of union soldiers who just completed the fight and were cheered up by this speech. A odd thing about it was that it was about three to four and a half minutes long. This might not seem odd but for Lincolns speech’s this was as short as they come. he was know for his long speech’s That is probably one of the reasons Lincolns Gettysburg Address is so popular. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.
The proclamation declared, “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free. ” (Lincoln, emancipation proclamation. ) This was a major step for Lincoln in the war against slavery, by it he helped many of the slaves in states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and others, to break away from the slave owners and rebel. It also let the union troops have a reason to fight, they from that point on fought for freedom and to help the slaves in the slave states. The act also let black soldiers fight for the union side in the war. As perversely they were not aloud to do so.
Although, the emancipation Proclamation was limited, it only applied to the slave states excluding the 4 slave union states. This was a try for Lincoln to help keep the 4 union slave states within the union. If they would have lost them the war would have turned out differently, the south might have won. Also, the emancipation proclamation didn’t actually free anyone, as the south was not going to obey any of the union rules that they appointed. They would have to win the war to get the confederate sates to follow, by that point the law could just be changed to abolish slavery outright.
