Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is a hero because he ended slavery. Lincoln had also joined the newly formed Republican party and his running mate was Hannibal Hamlin. Abe Lincoln was the first Republican President of the U.S.of A. Abraham ended slavery with the Lincoln Douglas debates and Abe lost the running for the U.S. Senate. I will prove that Abraham Lincoln is a hero because he helped other people with their problems and ended slavery.

Abraham Lincoln lived from February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old when he died. Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky and moved to New Salem, Illinois. Abraham Lincoln tried to help slaves and succeeded. Abraham Lincoln was trying to help the slaves because it was not fair for them to have to do all the work. Lincoln’s actions were important because without Abraham Lincoln there would probably still be slavery.

An action that Abraham Lincoln did is that he ran for the U.S. Senate and wanted to end slavery. This action meets my definition of a hero because he tried to help the slaves. Abraham was running against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln and Douglas engaged in seven debates during the election. Lincoln wished to share Douglas’s fame by appearing with him in debates. Eventually Lincoln threw his support to Lyman Trumbull. Lincoln lost the election but gained a national reputation. An impact that this event had on people is that some people were mad because the slaves were getting out and farmers would have to do the work instead of having the slaves do it. Abe was born to work on the farm. Here is a quote from him, “There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education” and that he considered the “unbroken forest” as a fight “with trees and logs and grubs." (http://sc94.ameslab.gov/tour/alincoln.html)

A second action that he did is was to write the Emancipation Proclamation. This action meets my definition of a hero because he made an announcement to free the slaves which made a huge impact. Abe was opposed to slavery. In 1862 Abe issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Emancipation means to free slaves from bondage proclamation means an announcement. Therefore emancipation proclamation means an announcement to free slaves. The impact that this emancipation proclamation had on people’s lives is that it freed about 4 MILLION African American slaves. Another quote from Abe Lincoln is “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Someone that would have thought my hero is not a hero is John Wilkes Booth. John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln because Abe was on the north’s side and John Wilkes Booth was on the South’s side. John Wilkes Booth tried to stop Abraham Lincoln by shooting him but that was not his original plan. His first plan was to kidnap Lincoln but he did not, so instead of that in Washington D.C. at Fords Theater on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. They carried him to the Peterson House across the street from Fords Theater. Abraham Lincoln's funeral was at the White House and more than 25,000 people showed up! To this day Abraham Lincoln's body is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.