Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln. Why? Americans like to believe that people who are honest and hardworking can achieve success no matter how humble their beginnings. Lincoln is a perfect example of what Americans call a self-made man.

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin in Kentucky. His parents were uneducated and poor. Stories about Lincoln's youth demonstrate his honesty. (In fact, he earned the nickname "Honest Abe.") Although Lincoln eventually became a lawyer, he had very little formal education. But he did have a brilliant mind and great moral strength. He had the courage to do what he felt was right, no matter how great the sac­rifice. In 1860, shortly before the Civil War began, he said, "Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."

Elected to the presidency in 1860 and reelected in 1864, Lincoln was the first successful presidential candidate nominated by the Republican party. During his presi­dency, the American Civil War was fought. The issues were slavery and secession. In the agricultural southern states, blacks forcibly brought from Africa were used as slaves to work on tobacco and cotton farms and do housework. In the industrial North, slavery was illegal. In the northern states, where there were only small farms, the economy had little use for large numbers of agricultural workers. Moreover, Northerners opposed slav­ery as inhumane. In order to protect their right to keep slaves, the southern leaders de­cided that the southern states should secede (separate) from the Union and form a new nation-the Confederate States of America.

Lincoln felt that the Union had to be saved. In 1858, Lincoln had said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." In 1860, the U.S.A., was, indeed, "a house divided." At that time, the U.S. was the only important democracy in the world. Self-government would be proved a failure if the nation could be destroyed by a minority of its own citizens. Lin­coln chose to lead the country into civil war rather than allow the South to secede.

There were 33 American states when the Civil War began. Eighteen of them did not allow slavery, and 15 did. During the Civil War, 11 states fought for the Confederacy (Vir­ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas). On the Union side there were 23 states, after a section of Virginia that wanted to remain in the Union separated from the rest of the state and became West Virginia (in 1863). Seven western territories also fought on the Union side. Among the states that bordered the North and the South, some sided with the Confederacy and others with the Union. For some, it was a difficult decision. Ken­tucky and Missouri, for example, remained in the Union, but secessionist groups within these states set up their own state governments and sent representatives to the Con­federate Congress.

The Civil War began in April of 1861, only a few months after Lincoln's inauguration as president. It began when Lincoln declared secession illegal and sent military troops to keep federal possession of a U.S. government fort located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In terms of human suffering, the Civil War was by far the most painful the U.S. has ever been involved in. About 620,000 soldiers died in battle and another 500,000 suffered from war-related injuries or illnesses. The number of Civil War deaths was almost as high as the total number of American lives lost in all other wars that the U.S. was involved in from 1775 to 1995. In addition, the Civil War caused the breakup of many friendships and even families when loyalties were on opposite sides. By the end of the war, the economy of the South was in ruins and a great deal of property had been destroyed. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate commander in chief, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander. It took until May 26 before the word reached all the generals in the field, and the battle between the North and the South finally ended.

During the war, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared all slaves in the Confederate states to be free. After the war, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted. It freed all slaves throughout the nation.

Lincoln was an excellent writer who could express his beliefs clearly and with great emotional force. For example, in 1863, Lincoln dedicated a national cemetery in Get­tysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. He ended his shortest and most famous speech with the following wish: " ... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the peo­ple, for the people shall not perish from the earth." These words, as well as other parts of Lincoln's speeches, are still memorized and recited by schoolchildren and actors be­cause they express in beautiful language the highest ideals of American democracy.

On April 14, 1865, less than a week after Lee's surrender, Lincoln, his wife, and some friends attended a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shortly after 10:00 p.m., a gunshot was heard in the crowded auditorium. John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and southern sympathizer, had shot the president in the head. Lincoln was carried un­conscious to a neighboring house, where he died early the following morning. He was the first American President to be assassinated, but, unfortunately, not the last.

Because Lincoln had spent most of his adult years in Illinois, his body was brought back there and buried in the state capital, Springfield. Now there is a large monument where Lincoln, his wife, and three of their four sons are buried. Visitors to Springfield can also tour the home where the Lincolns lived before moving to the White House.

Lincoln's birthday, February 12, is celebrated as a legal holiday in 14 states. Another 15 states honor him on Presidents' Day or Washington-Lincoln Day. Arizona celebrates Lincoln's birthday on the second Monday in February. Most of the southern states do not celebrate Lincoln's birthday since he was their enemy during the Civil War.

Check your comprehension.

What were the two main causes of the American Civil War?

How many men were killed or wounded in this war?

How did Lincoln die?

The names and faces of both Washington and Lincoln are an important part of American culture. Washington is the only president for whom a state is named. The state of Washington is in the northwest part of the United States. On the other side of the country lies the nation's capital city, Washington, D.C. The nation's capital has beautiful mon­uments honoring these two great pres­idents. The Washington Monument-­more than 555 feet high-is the capital city's only skyscraper and the tallest masonry (stone) tower in the world. The Lincoln Memorial contains a beau­tiful marble sculpture (larger than life­size) of a seated Lincoln. Throughout the U.S.A., cities, towns, streets, schools, bridges, and other structures are named for both Washington and Lincoln. Portraits of both these na­tional heroes decorate the walls of the walls of many public buildings. In addition, portraits of Washington and Lincoln (like those of other presidents) appear on the front of U.S. coins and bills. Washington's picture is on the quarter and the $1 bill; Lincoln's is on the penny and the $5 bill. To Americans, the faces of Washington and Lincoln are as familiar and inspiring as their courageous leadership.