. [35][e] Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part due to his father's lack of education. During the Great Depression, he argues, Lincoln served "as a means for seeing the world's disappointments, for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful." The future president was first called "Honest Abe" when he was working as a young store clerk in New Salem, Ill. [178] In his second inaugural address, Lincoln looked back on the situation at the time and said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. A copy of President Abraham Lincoln's short Gettysburg Address speech. Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States in 1860. Harrison was an old war hero, thanks to his 1811 victory over Native American leader Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and the campaign slogan and song of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too helped propel the pair into the White House. Abraham Lincoln vs George Washington - Difference and Comparison | Diffen Taylor was a down-to-earth, unpretentious leader who readily shared the difficulties and privations of his fellow soldiers. As a flatboatman, he made a voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September and David Farragut's capture of Mobile ended defeatism. Just as the Republican Party of the 1850s absorbed certain elements of Jacksonianism, so Lincoln, whose Whiggery had always been more egalitarian than that of other Whigs, found himself absorbing some of them as well. He believed in his own integrity and worked diligently to maintain his reputation as an honest politician and lawyer something that was not always easy in either of those fields. [102] As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. Abraham Lincoln's great laws of truth, integrity: A long career ruled by honesty by Gordon Leidner Mary Todd Lincoln once wrote to a friend that "Mr. Lincoln . Omissions? Lincoln is the only president to have obtained a patent. Though much less prosperous than some of his Lincoln forebears, Thomas was a sturdy pioneer. [380] On the other hand, Donald opined in his 1996 biography that Lincoln was distinctly endowed with the personality trait of negative capability, defined by the poet John Keats and attributed to extraordinary leaders who were "content in the midst of uncertainties and doubts, and not compelled toward fact or reason". When Lincoln Was More a Politician Than an "Honest Abe" is almost monomaniac on the subject of honesty." The future president was first called "Honest Abe" when he was working as a young store clerk in New Salem, Ill. [129] Lincoln's argument assumed a moral tone, as he claimed Douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery. It was here that Lincoln earned his reputation for honesty, reportedly chasing customers out of his store if he had accidentally shortchanged him. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read but probably not to write, at age seven,[27] and in Indiana, where he went to school sporadically due to farm chores, for a total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by the age of 15. Defeated only once in approximately 300 matches, Lincoln reportedly talked a little smack in the ring. [357][o] Between 1999 and 2011, Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan have been the top-ranked presidents in eight public opinion surveys, according to Gallup. [156], On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president. 1. His fathera carpenter and farmerremarried and moved his family farther west, eventually settling in Illinois. [370][371] Bennett won wide attention when he called Lincoln a white supremacist in 1968. [296], Lincoln named his main political rival William H. Seward as Secretary of State, and left most diplomatic issues in his portfolio. Lincoln did not migrate to Illinois until 1830. Start your free trial today. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the war's end at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. 9 Questions About the American Civil War Answered, Match the Quote to the Speaker: American Speeches, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Lincoln, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, The White House - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, American National Biography - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, American Battlefields Trust - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, Indian Child - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, The Ohio State University - ehistory - Abraham Lincoln, Social Studies for Kids - Biography of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Abraham Lincoln - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), presidency of the United States of America (1861-1865), Abraham Lincoln: statue at the Lincoln Memorial. Please be respectful of copyright. [284] The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s. Lincoln sometimes kept important documents under the tall black hats he wore. But by 1840, the year Lincoln left New Salem for a law firm in Springfield, the new state capital only 20 miles southeast, the little town folded -- a victim, like many speculative river towns, of the almighty railroad. All rights reserved, Weird But True Know-It-All: U.S. Presidents, NICKNAMES: Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator, BORN: February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky. [67] In 1837, he declared, "[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. [76] Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. When Lincoln was nine years old, his mother died. He continued his efforts after the war, and his American Relief Administration delivered more than 34 million tons of food to war-torn Europe and leaped into action in 1921, setting up camps in Soviet Russia that were soon feeding more than 11 million every day. . The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South: "We are not enemies, but friends. [115][h], Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise. Because he didn't have to waste time convincing his opponents of his sincerity, he was able to devote his energies to solving political issues and winning the war. In 1917 he joined the newly-formed U.S. Food Administration, leading rationing and food conservation efforts upon Americas entry in the war. Abraham helped to clear the fields and to take care of the crops but early acquired a dislike for hunting and fishing. Hardcover, 270 pages. Lincoln came under enemy fire on a Civil War battlefield. He tracked all phases of the effort, consulting with governors, and selecting generals based on their success, their state, and their party. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal. Americans asked, "What would Lincoln do? "Honest Abe" was a nickname that Abraham Lincoln embraced with pride. Afterward he joked that he had seen no live, fighting Indians during the war but had had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes. Meanwhile, aspiring to be a legislator, he was defeated in his first try and then repeatedly reelected to the state assembly. But he soon came into conflict with fellow Whigs, and his growing list of political enemies quickly dubbed him His Accidency. A man without a party, he briefly ran for election in 1844 before withdrawing his candidacy for lack of support. 1933-2022. [160], The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. It wasnt until the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania during July 1863 that the war turned in favor of the Union. [182] The Fort Sumter attack rallied Americans north of the Mason-Dixon line to defend the nation. Abraham Lincoln (/ l k n / LINK-n; February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. This charm derives from his remarkable life storythe rise from humble origins, the dramatic deathand from his distinctively human and humane personality as well as from his historical role as saviour of the Union and emancipator of enslaved people. The Great Emancipator wasnt quite WWE material, but thanks to his long limbs he was an accomplished wrestler as a young man. The goal was to demonstrate the power of "free labor", which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts. How did Abraham Lincoln get into politics? Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson. As a ragged nine-year-old, he saw her buried in the forest, then faced a winter without the warmth of a mothers love. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy. Abraham Lincoln, a 1909 bronze statue by Adolph Weinman, sits before a historic church in Hodgenville, Kentucky. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Grateful citizens built tributes to Hoover, including a Belgian statue depicting him as the Isis, the Egyptian god of life. Lincoln earned the nickname ``Honest Abe'' here long before it became popular in the press. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency. According to Robert Rutledge of New Salem, "Lincoln's judgment was final in all that region of country. The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery. Robert Todd Lincoln immediately recognized his rescuer: famous actor Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes. 6 No. His earliest memories were of this home and, in particular, of a flash flood that once washed away the corn and pumpkin seeds he had helped his father plant. His stepmother doubtless encouraged Lincolns taste for reading, yet the original source of his desire to learn remains something of a mystery. Lincoln created the Secret Service hours before his assassination. [110], In 1854, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature but declined to take his seat. His Gettysburg Address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. Ohio-born Rutherford B. Hayes was an attorney, Civil War veteran, Congressman and former governor of Ohio when he became the Republican presidential nominee in 1876. Alternate titles: Honest Abe, The Great Emancipator, The Rail-splitter, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of North Carolina, Greensboro. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union [] I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. [293], Lincoln is largely responsible for the Thanksgiving holiday. Abraham Lincoln was said to be one of the most honest presidents who has ever served our country, that's where he was given the nickname . Election of 1860: Lincoln Won at Time of National Crisis - ThoughtCo Abraham Lincoln (/lkn/ LINK-n; February 12, 1809 April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. The legitimacy of military commissions trying opposing combatants had been established during the Mexican War. The nicknames given to Americas commanders in chief have been as varied as the people themselves. The speech was a triumph and made Lincoln an overnight political star in New York City. Furthermore, it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. People relied implicitly upon his honesty, integrity, and impartiality.". Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation. He fights. He placed 263 cases into the first group and commuted their sentences for the largest mass commutation in history. 10 Things You May Not Know About Abraham Lincoln - History [138] But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership that brought him into contention. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The Lincoln memorial postage stamp of 1866 was issued by the U.S. Post Office exactly one year after Lincoln's death. [49] While anxiously preparing for the nuptials, he was asked where he was going and replied, "To hell, I suppose. But young Lincoln ingeniously shifted the cargo, bored a hole in the bow of the craft, letting the water run out, then plugged the hole -- thus saving the trip. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. 12 Presidential Nicknames and Their Unusual Origins - Biography A lifelong believer in states rights who fought against growing federal powers, Tyler shocked his supporters and allies when he broke with fellow Democrat Jackson and his party, resigning his Senate seat in protest in 1836. His Marriage Was Rocky. Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal . The woods were full of wild animals and no one else lived nearby. [23] Lincoln disliked the hard labor associated with farm life. James Oakes He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. This was a principle to which he remained true all of his life. Abraham Lincoln, byname Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter, or the Great Emancipator, (born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.), 16th president of the United States (1861-65), who preserved the Union during the American Civil War and brought about the emancipation of. [241] When Lincoln asked what Grant's plans were, the persistent general replied, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. In this famous dedication of the battlefield cemetery, he urged citizens to ensure "that these dead shall not have died in vainthat this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedomand that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." His good name helped win him four consecutive terms in the legislature. According to Carl Sandburgs biography of Lincoln, Honest Abe once challenged an entire crowd of onlookers after dispatching an opponent: Im the big buck of this lick. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three; but that was all. Apparently the young Lincoln did not read a large number of books but thoroughly absorbed the few that he did read. It was there that he met with Cabinet members and signed documents, including the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln attended artillery and cannon tests and met at the White House with inventors demonstrating military prototypes. He assumed that political control in the South would pass to white Unionists, reluctant secessionists, and forward-looking former Confederates. [188] On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. His main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation as one. [344] Diggins notes, "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself" in the 1860 Cooper Union speech. [62] He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody. ", According to Judge David Davis, in whose court Lincoln practiced for many years, "The framework for [Lincoln's] mental and moral being was honesty, and a wrong cause was poorly defended by him." PDF Honest Abe Classroom Practice Download View. [275][276] Before he arrived, the Fond Du Lac band of Chippewa sent Lincoln a letter begging to go to war for the United States against the Sioux, so Lincoln could send Minnesota's troops to fight the south. He also practiced law in Illinois during the 1830s and 40s, and in that time he became one of the states most renowned lawyers. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. He first entered national politics in 1847 while serving a single term in Congress. In 1939, as Roosevelt was deciding to run for an unprecedented third presidential term this inscrutability was on full display, leading reporters and political cartoonists to dub him the Great Sphinx, for his refusal to answer their questions. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. [325] His three most famous speechesthe House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inauguraleach contain direct allusions to Providence and quotes from Scripture. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. And having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. Meade's failure to capture Lee's army after Gettysburg and the continued passivity of the Army of the Potomac persuaded Lincoln to promote Grant to supreme commander. Practical information. 3. The family then migrated west, passing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. his restraint, his avoidance of any outward expression of truculence, his early softening of State Department's attitude toward Britain, his deference toward Seward and Sumner, his withholding of his paper prepared for the occasion, his readiness to arbitrate, his golden silence in addressing Congress, his shrewdness in recognizing that war must be averted, and his clear perception that a point could be clinched for America's true position at the same time that satisfaction was given to a friendly country. Stanton centralized the War Department's activities, auditing and canceling contracts, saving the federal government $17,000,000. She was the daughter of Alexander and Abigail Herring (ne Harrison). Lincoln's work as an everyman's store clerk and trustworthy business owner helped lead to his nickname as "Honest Abe". He shot Lincoln in the back of the head, then fled the theater. An example of his candor is the following excerpt from a letter to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker in early 1863: "I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Our book servers saves in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Two years later, however, he found himself running against the same man for the presidency. He kept his word and, on January 1, 1863, issued the Emancipation Proclamation,[224] freeing the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control,[225] with exemptions specified for areas under such control. [19], On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of a household including her father, 9-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's Freedmen's Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. [348], As a Whig activist, Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. [214], Hooker was routed by Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned and was replaced by George Meade. Unauthorized use is prohibited. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied. His intransigence on the subject scuttled possibilities of a peace conference between the Union and the Confederacy in 1864. Both his parents were almost completely illiterate, and he himself received little formal education. The political documents sometimes involve campaign experiences, but we have tried to exclude general campaign materials from this category (you will find them in The Railsplitter theme) and instead have concentrated here on moments in Lincolns political career when his ethics seemed to be in jeopardy by the circumstances of his first chosen profession. ", "Rating the Presidents of the United States, 17892000", "Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President", "A Civil War Mystery: Who Named Lincoln the 'Great Emancipator'? According to one story, whenever he realized he had shortchanged a customer by a few pennies, he would close the shop and deliver the correct change-regardless of how far he had to walk. [270] During his presidency, his policy toward Indians was based on politics. He had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land. "The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862", "Andrew Johnson and Emancipation in Tennessee - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)", "Message of President Abraham Lincoln Nominating Ulysses S. Grant to Be Lieutenant General of the Army", "Primary Documents in American History: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution", "The United States Secret Service in History", "OUR GREAT LOSS; The Assassination of President Lincoln", "Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings Lincoln Tomb, Illinois", "Religious Quotations by Abraham Lincoln", "Letter by Abraham Lincoln to Albert Hodges", "Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States: from George Washington 1789 to George Bush 1989", "Abraham Lincoln's Blue Pills: Did Our 16th President Suffer from Mercury Poisoning? Always comfortable telling jokes and stories around the men of Springfield, he usually was awkward and self-conscious around women. Even if the Secret Service had been established earlier, it wouldnt have saved Lincoln: The original mission of the law enforcement agency was to combat widespread currency counterfeiting. [372] He noted that Lincoln used ethnic slurs and told jokes that ridiculed blacks. Matthew Patterson, a ranger at New Salem whose family has lived in these parts for more than 160 years, points out that the log dwellings with fireplaces on either end suggest the inhabitants were southern uplanders from Kentucky, while a fireplace in the center of the dwelling indicates a family that migrated from the north. [244] Lincoln authorized Grant to target infrastructureplantations, railroads, and bridgeshoping to weaken the South's morale and fighting ability. [65] He championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and later was a Canal Commissioner. [349] Lincoln shared the sympathies that the Jacksonians professed for the common man, but he disagreed with the Jacksonian view that the government should be divorced from economic enterprise. [25], Lincoln was largely self-educated. Grant's bloody stalemates damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat. The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. 6'4" (6' 11" with his top hat). Lincoln would go on to marry Mary Todd and have four boys with her, only one of whom survived into adulthood.
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