Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, who led the nation through its bloodiest war and greatest crisis. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in American history, and a symbol of democracy, freedom, and human rights. He is also known for his role in abolishing slavery, preserving the Union, and strengthening the federal government.
Early Life and Career
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, poor farmers who belonged to a Baptist church that opposed slavery. He had an older sister, Sarah, and a younger brother, Thomas, who died in infancy. He grew up in a frontier environment, where he learned to work hard and value education. He taught himself to read and write, and borrowed books from his neighbors and friends. He also developed a love for storytelling and humor.
Lincoln’s family moved several times, from Kentucky to Indiana in 1816, and then to Illinois in 1830. He worked as a farmhand, a rail-splitter, a store clerk, a postmaster, and a surveyor. He also served as a captain in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832, though he did not see any combat. He became interested in politics and law, and joined the Whig Party. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1834, where he served four terms. He also studied law on his own, and was admitted to the bar in 1836. He practiced law in Springfield, Illinois, where he met Mary Todd, a well-educated woman from a prominent family. They married in 1842, and had four sons: Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas.
Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, where he served one term. He opposed the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery into the territories. He also supported the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. He returned to his law practice in 1849, but remained active in politics. He became a leader of the new Republican Party, which was formed in 1854 to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed popular sovereignty on the issue of slavery in the territories. He also gained national fame for his debates with Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, when they ran for the U.S. Senate from Illinois. Lincoln lost the election, but his eloquence and moral stance against slavery impressed many people.
Presidency and Civil War
Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican candidate for president in 1860, with Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate. He faced three opponents: Stephen A. Douglas of the Northern Democrats, John C. Breckinridge of the Southern Democrats, and John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln won the election with less than 40 percent of the popular vote, but a majority of the electoral vote. He carried every free state except New Jersey.
Lincoln’s election triggered a secession crisis in the South, where many people feared that he would abolish slavery or interfere with their rights as states. Seven states seceded from the Union before Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. They formed the Confederate States of America (CSA), with Jefferson Davis as their president. Four more states seceded after Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter , a federal fort in Charleston harbor , South Carolina . Lincoln responded by calling for 75 ,000 volunteers to join the Union army . He also declared a blockade of Southern ports , suspended habeas corpus in some areas , and authorized military arrests of suspected traitors . He faced many challenges , both military and political , during the war . He had to deal with divided public opinion , opposition from some Northern Democrats (called Copperheads) , disloyalty in some border states , and foreign intervention attempts . He also had to find competent generals who could win battles against the Confederate army , which was led by Robert E . Lee , one of the best military commanders in American history .
Lincoln’s main goal was to preserve the Union , but he also came to embrace emancipation as a moral and strategic necessity . On January 1 , 1863 , he issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which declared that all enslaved people in the rebel states “shall be then , thenceforward , and forever free .” The proclamation did not free any slaves immediately , but it changed the nature of the war and gave hope to millions of African Americans . It also encouraged thousands of black men to join the Union army and navy , where they fought bravely for their freedom and the Union . Lincoln also supported the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment , which abolished slavery throughout the United States . It was ratified by the states in December 1865 , after Lincoln’s death .
Lincoln also faced the task of restoring the nation after the war . He pursued a lenient policy of reconstruction , which aimed to reunite the country and protect the rights of the freedmen . He offered amnesty to most former Confederates who took an oath of loyalty to the Union . He also proposed a plan to readmit the seceded states into the Union if 10 percent of their voters swore allegiance and accepted emancipation . He also supported the Freedmen’s Bureau , which provided education , health care , and land to the former slaves . He clashed with some Radical Republicans in Congress , who wanted harsher treatment of the South and more protection for the black population . He vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill , which required 50 percent of a state’s voters to take a loyalty oath and denied the right to vote or hold office to any former Confederate official or military officer .
Assassination and Legacy
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln was attending a play called Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife Mary and two guests, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris. Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head with a derringer pistol. He then stabbed Rathbone in the arm and jumped onto the stage, shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!” (“Thus always to tyrants!”) before escaping. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning at 7:22 a.m. He was the first president to be assassinated in U.S. history.
Booth’s assassination was part of a larger conspiracy to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward on the same night. However, only Seward was attacked, by Lewis Powell, who stabbed him several times but failed to kill him. Johnson’s would-be assassin, George Atzerodt, lost his nerve and did not attempt to kill him. Booth was tracked down by federal agents and killed on April 26, 1865, at a farm in Virginia. Four of his co-conspirators were hanged on July 7, 1865: Powell, Atzerodt, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, who owned a boarding house where Booth and his associates met. Three others were sentenced to life imprisonment, and one was acquitted.
Lincoln’s assassination shocked and saddened the nation, which had just emerged from four years of civil war. His funeral and burial were marked by an extended period of mourning and a series of ceremonies across the country. His body was taken by train from Washington to Springfield, Illinois, his home town, where he was buried on May 4, 1865. Along the way, millions of people paid their respects to the fallen president.
Lincoln’s legacy is immense and enduring. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents and leaders in American history, and a champion of democracy, liberty, and equality. His speeches and writings, such as the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address , are considered masterpieces of American rhetoric and literature. His image and memory are honored by numerous monuments, memorials, museums, stamps, coins, and cultural works. He is consistently ranked among the top three presidents by historians and scholars. He is also revered around the world as an inspiration for human rights movements and democratic ideals. He is truly a national hero who embodied the American spirit and values.