Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Claire Haley

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. He grew up in a modest home of pioneers who were well respected in the community. The couple had two other children. When young Abraham was 9 years old his mother died of tremetol. Though both his parents were not educated, he learned how to read. Over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner.  These jobs were what gave Lincoln his social and public speaking skills that he is so well remembered by.

In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. And it gave rise to the Republican Party. This came as a shock to Lincoln, and immediately wanted to take action. Lincoln joined the Republican Party in 1856. In 1860, a campaign was organized to support Lincoln for the presidency. Many say that Lincoln's nomination was because of his views towards slavery.  Lincoln ended up receiving 180 of 303 Electoral votes.

Before his inauguration in March, 1861, Fort Sumter was under siege in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. On April 12, 1861, the start of America’s most deadly conflict was underway. Lincoln took care of this in a very unexpected way. He distributed $2 million from for war material without Congress approval. On top of that, he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service without a declaration of war.

The first year had passed and hope seemed lost. But Lincoln felt confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from "union" to abolishing slavery. He was reelected, and then on April 9, 1865, the commander of the Army of Virginia, surrendered his forces and the war for all intents and purposes was over. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. and is remembered today for being one of the best presidents of the United States.