Abraham Lincoln
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
President of the United States from 1861 to 1865 (1809–1865)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Abraham Lincoln (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, at Sinking Spring Farm in Kentucky to Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. He grew up in a one-room log cabin on the frontier and had little formal education but taught himself much through extensive reading. His family moved to Indiana in 1816 and later to Illinois in 1830. As an adult, Lincoln worked as a rail-splitter and store clerk before teaching himself law.
Lincoln's political career began in 1832 when he ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois General Assembly. He was elected to the state legislature in 1834 as a member of the Whig Party and served four terms. During this time, he got his law license and built a successful legal practice in Springfield, Illinois. In 1847, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served one term before returning to law.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 pulled Lincoln back into politics because he strongly opposed the spread of slavery into new territories. He joined the newly formed Republican Party and gained national attention during his 1858 Senate debates with Stephen A. Douglas, even though he lost the election. His strong stance against the expansion of slavery made him a leading voice in the Republican Party.
Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election, becoming the first Republican president. His win led eleven Southern states to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. When Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in April 1861, Lincoln faced the largest crisis in American history. He showed great leadership during the Civil War, making key decisions about military strategy, suspending habeas corpus, and gradually emancipating enslaved people. His Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 turned the conflict from a battle to save the Union into a moral fight against slavery. On April 14, 1865, just days after the war ended, Lincoln was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre and died the next morning at the Petersen House.
Before Fame
Lincoln's early years were tough, marked by poverty and frequent moves as his family looked for better opportunities on the American frontier. His mother, Nancy, died when he was nine, and he had a strained relationship with his father, Thomas, throughout his life. Even though he had less than a year of formal schooling, Lincoln taught himself using borrowed books like the Bible, Aesop's Fables, and Pilgrim's Progress.
When he moved to New Salem, Illinois, in 1831, Lincoln took on various jobs such as storekeeper, postmaster, and surveyor while studying law on his own. His physical strength, talent for storytelling, and honesty earned him respect in the community. His upbringing on the frontier and self-education shaped the practical wisdom and communication skills that would later mark his political career.
Key Achievements
- Preserved the Union during the American Civil War (1861-1865)
- Issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in rebellious states
- Promoted and signed the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery
- Delivered the Gettysburg Address, redefining American democratic principles
- Established the first transcontinental railroad and the National Banking System
Did You Know?
- 01.Lincoln is the only U.S. president to hold a patent, which he received for a system of lifting boats over shoals using bellows attached to their sides
- 02.He established the Secret Service on the same day he was assassinated, signing the legislation on April 14, 1865
- 03.Lincoln suffered from what historians believe was clinical depression, which he called 'melancholy,' and once wrote that he was 'the most miserable man living'
- 04.He was the first president born outside the original thirteen colonies and the first president from the Republican Party
- 05.Lincoln's law partner William Herndon described him as so absent-minded that he would forget to eat meals and would walk through Springfield wearing mismatched socks