Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) served as the 16th President of the United States
from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led the country through its
greatest constitutional, military and moral crisis—the American Civil War--by preserving the Union by
force while ending slavery and promoting economic modernization. Reared in a poor family on the
western frontier, he was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator,
and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, but failed in two attempts at a
seat in the United States Senate. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband, and father of
four children.

Lincoln was an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States, which he deftly
articulated in his campaign debates and speeches.[1] As a result, he secured the Republican nomination
and was elected president in 1860. After war began, following declarations of secession by Southern
slave states, he concentrated on both the military and political dimensions of the war effort, seeking to
reunify the nation. He vigorously exercised unprecedented war powers, including the arrest and
detention, without trial, of thousands of suspected secessionists. He issued his Emancipation
Proclamation in 1863, and promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including Ulysses S.
Grant. He brought leaders of various factions of his party into his cabinet and pressured them to
cooperate. He defused a confrontation with Britain in the Trent affair late in 1861. Under his leadership,
the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war and tried repeatedly to capture
the Confederate capital at Richmond. Each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another, until
finally Grant succeeded in 1865. A shrewd politician deeply involved with patronage and power issues in
each state, he reached out to War Democrats and managed his own re-election in the 1864 presidential
election.

As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican party, Lincoln came under attack from all sides.
Radical Republicans wanted harsher treatment of the South, Democrats desired more compromise, and
secessionists saw him as their enemy.[2] Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents
against each other, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory;[3][4] for
example, his Gettysburg Address of 1863 became one of the most quoted speeches in history. It was an
iconic statement of America's dedication to the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and
democracy. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily
reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation in the face of lingering and bitter
divisiveness. Just six days after the decisive surrender of the commanding general of the Confederate
army, Lincoln fell victim to an assassin — the first President to suffer such a fate. Lincoln has consistently
been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.

Abraham Lincoln (no middle name) was born on February 12, 1809, the second child to Thomas Lincoln
and Nancy Lincoln (née Hanks), in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm in southeast Hardin
County, Kentucky[5] (now LaRue County).

Little is known about Lincoln's ancestors. Historical investigations have traced his family back to Samuel
Lincoln, an apprentice weaver who arrived in Hingham, Massachusetts, from Norfolk, England, in
1637.[6][7] However, Lincoln himself was only able to trace his heritage back as far as his paternal
grandfather and namesake, Abraham Lincoln, a local militia captain, and a substantial landholder with
an inherited 200 acre estate in Rockingham County, Virginia).[6] The elder Abraham later moved his
family from Rockingham County, Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky,[6][8] where he was ambushed
and killed by an Indian raid in 1786, with his children Mordecai, Josiah, and Thomas looking on.[8]
Mordecai's marksmanship with a rifle saved Thomas from the same fate. As the eldest son, by law,
Mordecai inherited his father's entire estate.[9]

Thomas became a respected citizen of rural Kentucky. He bought and sold several farms, including the
Sinking Spring Farm. The family belonged to a Separate Baptists church, which had high moral standards
and opposed alcohol, dancing, and slavery,[10] though Lincoln, as an adult, never joined a church.
Thomas "enjoyed considerable status" in Kentucky, where he sat on juries, appraised estates, served on
country patrols, and guarded prisoners. By the time his son Abraham was born, Thomas owned two 600
acre farms, several town lots, livestock and horses. He was amongst the richest men in the area.[6][11] In
1816, the Lincoln family lost their lands because of a faulty title and made a new start in Perry County,
Indiana (now Spencer County). Lincoln later noted that this move was "partly on account of slavery" but
mainly due to land title difficulties.[12]
Symbolic log cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park

When Lincoln was nine, his 34-year-old mother died of milk sickness.[13] His older sister, Sarah (Grigsby),
died while giving birth at a young age.[7] Soon after, his father married Sarah Bush Johnston, with whom
Lincoln became very close and whom he called "Mother."[14] However, he became increasingly distant
from his father. Lincoln regretted his father's lack of education, and did not like the hard labor
associated with frontier life. Still, he willingly took responsibility for all chores expected of him as a male
in the household; he became an adept axeman in his work building rail fences. Lincoln also agreed with
the customary obligation of a son to give his father all earnings from work done outside the home until
age 21.[13] In later years, he occasionally loaned his father money.[15]

In 1830, fearing a milk sickness outbreak, the family settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois.[16] In
1831, when his father relocated the family to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois, 22-year-old
Lincoln struck out on his own, canoeing down the Sangamon River to the village of New Salem in
Sangamon County.[17] In spring 1831, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt and accompanied
by friends, he took goods by flatboat from New Salem to New Orleans via the Sangamon, Illinois, and
Mississippi rivers. After arriving in New Orleans—and witnessing slavery firsthand—he walked back
home.[18]

Lincoln's formal education consisted of approximately 18 months of classes from several itinerant
teachers; he was mostly self-educated and was an avid reader.[19] He attained a reputation of brawn and
audacity after a very competitive wrestling match, to which he was challenged by the renowned leader
of a group of ruffians, "the Clary's Grove boys."[20] His family and neighbors considered him to be
lazy.[21][22] Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing out of an aversion to killing animals.[23]

Marriage and family

Further information: Mary Todd Lincoln; Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln; Medical and mental health of
Abraham Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln, age 28

Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he first moved to New Salem; by
1835, they were in a relationship but not formally engaged. Ann wanted to notify a former love before
"consummating the engagement to Mr. L. with marriage." Rutledge died, however, on August 25, most
likely of typhoid fever.[24]

In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky when she was visiting her sister. Late in 1836,
Lincoln agreed to a match with Mary if she returned to New Salem. Mary did return in November 1836,
and Lincoln courted her for a time; however, they both had second thoughts about their relationship.
On August 16, 1837, Lincoln wrote Mary a letter from his law practice in Springfield, suggesting he
would not blame her if she ended the relationship. She never replied, and the courtship was over.[25]

In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd, who was from a wealthy slave-holding family in
Lexington, Kentucky.[26] They met in Springfield in December 1839,[27] and were engaged sometime in
late December.[28] A wedding was set for January 1, 1841, but the couple split as the wedding
approached.[27] They later met at a party, and then married on November 4, 1842 in the Springfield
mansion of Mary's married sister.[29] While preparing for the nuptials and having cold feet again, Lincoln,
when asked where he was going, replied, "To hell, I suppose."[30]
1864 Mathew Brady photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book with his youngest son, Tad

In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near Lincoln's law office.[31] Mary Todd Lincoln worked
diligently in their home, assuming household duties which had been performed for her in her own
family. She also made efficient use of the limited funds available from her husband's law practice.[32]
One evening, Mary asked Lincoln four times to restart the fire and, getting no reaction, as he was
absorbed in his reading, she grabbed a piece of firewood and rapped him on the head.[33] The Lincolns
had a budding family, with the birth of Robert Todd Lincoln in 1843, and Edward Baker Lincoln in 1846.
According to a house girl, Abraham "was remarkably fond of children"[34] and the Lincolns were not
thought to be strict with their children.[35]

Robert was the only child of the Lincolns to live past the age of 18. Edward Lincoln died on February 1,
1850, in Springfield, likely of tuberculosis.[36] The Lincolns' grief over this loss was somewhat assuaged by
the birth of William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln nearly 11 months later, on December 21. However, Willie
died of a fever at the age of 11 on February 20, 1862, in Washington, D.C., during President Lincoln's
first term.[37] The Lincolns' fourth son, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853 and outlived his
father, but died at the age of 18 on July 16, 1871, in Chicago.[38]

The death of their sons had profound effects on both parents. Later in life, Mary struggled with the
stresses of losing her husband and sons; Robert Lincoln committed her to a mental health asylum in
1875.[39] Abraham Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition which now may be referred to as
clinical depression.[40]

Lincoln's father-in-law was based in Lexington, Kentucky; he and most of the Todd family were slave
owners and some members were slave traders. Lincoln was close to the Todds and he and his family
occasionally visited the Todd estate in Lexington. Lincoln's connections in Lexington could have
accelerated his ambitions, but he remained in Illinois, where, to his liking, slavery was almost
nonexistent.[41]

Early career and military service

Main articles: Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hawk War
Sketch of young Abraham Lincoln

In 1832, at age 23, Lincoln bought a small general store in New Salem, Illinois. He purchased it on credit
along with a partner. While the economy was booming in the region, the business struggled and Lincoln
eventually sold his share of the business. When his partner later died, Lincoln became liable for a $1,000
debt. Unable to pay he was forced to declare bankruptcy and did not finish repaying his creditors for
another 17 years.[42] That same year he began his political career with a campaign for the Illinois General
Assembly. He had attained local popularity, and could draw crowds as a natural raconteur in New Salem,
though he lacked an education, powerful friends, and money. He advocated navigational improvements
on the Sangamon River.[43][44] Before the election, he served briefly as a captain in the Illinois militia
during the Black Hawk War, although he never saw combat. Lincoln returned from the militia and was
able to campaign for the August 6 election. At 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m), he was tall and "strong enough
to intimidate any rival." At his first speech, he grabbed an antagonist by his "neck and the seat of his
trousers" and threw him. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected),
though he got 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct.[45]

Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and, after more dedicated self-study, as county surveyor.[46]
In 1834, he won election to the state legislature after a bipartisan campaign, though he ran as a Whig.[47]
He then decided to become a lawyer, and began teaching himself law by reading Blackstone's
Commentaries on the Laws of England and others. Lincoln's description of his learning method was: "I
studied with nobody."[48] Admitted to the bar in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois,[49] and began to
practice law under John T. Stuart, Mary Todd's cousin.[50] Lincoln became an able and successful lawyer
with a reputation as a formidable adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments. In 1841,
he partnered with Stephen Logan until 1844, when he began his practice with William Herndon, whom
Lincoln thought "a studious young man."[51] He served four successive terms in the Illinois House of
Representatives as a Whig representative from Sangamon County.[52]

In the 1835–1836 legislative session, he voted to continue the restriction on suffrage to white males
only while removing the condition of land ownership.[53][54] He was known for his "free soil" stance of
opposing both slavery and abolitionism. He first articulated this in 1837, saying the "institution of slavery
is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to
increase than abate its evils."[55] He closely followed Henry Clay in supporting the American Colonization
Society program of making the abolition of slavery practical by helping the freed slaves return to Liberia
in Africa.[56]

The American Civil War (1861–1865), also known as the War Between the States (among other names),
was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession
from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America, also known as "the
Confederacy". Led by Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy fought for its independence from the United
States. The U.S. federal government was supported by twenty mostly-Northern free states in which
slavery already had been abolished, and by five slave states that became known as the border states.
These twenty-five states, referred to as the Union, had a much larger base of population and industry
than the South. After four years of bloody, devastating warfare (mostly within the Southern states), the
Confederacy surrendered and slavery was outlawed everywhere in the nation. The restoration of the
Union, and the Reconstruction Era that followed, dealt with issues that remained unresolved for
generations.

In the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, had campaigned
against the expansion of slavery beyond the states in which it already existed. The Republicans were
strong advocates of nationalism and in their 1860 platform explicitly denounced threats of disunion as
avowals of treason. After a Republican victory, but before the new administration took office on March
4, 1861, seven cotton states declared their secession and joined together to form the Confederate
States of America. Both the outgoing administration of President James Buchanan and the incoming
administration rejected the legality of secession, considering it rebellion. The other eight slave states
rejected calls for secession at this point. No country in the world recognized the Confederacy.

Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort
Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state to
recapture federal property. This led to declarations of secession by four more slave states. Both sides
raised armies as the Union seized control of the border states early in the war and established a naval
blockade that virtually ended cotton sales on which the South depended for its wealth, and blocked
most imports. Land warfare in the East was inconclusive in 1861-62, as the Confederacy beat back Union
efforts to capture its capital, Richmond, Virginia. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal,[1] and dissuaded the British from
intervening.[2]

Confederate commander Robert E. Lee won battles in Virginia, but in 1863 his northward advance was
turned back with heavy casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg. To the west, the Union gained control
of the Mississippi River after their capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi, thereby splitting the Confederacy in
two. The Union was able to capitalize on its long-term advantages in men and materiel by 1864 when
Ulysses S. Grant fought battles of attrition against Lee, while Union general William Tecumseh Sherman
captured Atlanta and marched to the sea. Confederate resistance ended after Lee surrendered to Grant
at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

The American Civil War was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Railroads, the telegraph,
steamships, and mass-produced weapons were employed extensively. The practices of total war,
developed by Sherman in Georgia, and of trench warfare around Petersburg foreshadowed World War I
in Europe. It remains the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers
and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. Ten percent of all Northern males 20–45 years of
age died, as did 30 percent of all Southern white males aged 18–40.[3] Victory for the North meant the
end of the Confederacy and of slavery in the United States, and strengthened the role of the federal
government. The social, political, economic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the
reconstruction era that lasted to 1877.