Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. He was born in a log cabin somewhere near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, his father being a carpenter and a farmer.

While growing up Lincoln loved learning and often borrowed books from his neighbors, this often led to confrontations with his father, who believed that working in the fields was far more important.

Lincoln held several jobs throughout his life, including serving on the Illinois legislature. He won a seat in 1834, 1836, 1838, 1840, after first losing in 1832. In his spare time Lincoln studied law and became a lawyer in 1836. While in Springfield in 1839, Abraham met Mary Todd. They quickly fell in love and were married three years later. They had four children; Robert, Edward, William and Thomas.

Abraham became a successful attorney and won the presidential nomination from the Republicans. He was elected the sixteenth president of the United States on Nov. 6, 1860. Shortly after being elected, the southern states of the Union began withdrawing and forming their own Union. After Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln raised a Union army and tried to defeat the South. For four long bloody years the Civil War was the center of Lincoln’s Presidency, along with the Emancipation Proclamation.

After the Civil War was over, Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd, went to go see the play “Our American Cousin.” John Wilkes Booth came and shot Lincoln in the back of the head around 10:15 P.M. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Peterson House where he later died. Abraham Lincoln was buried in Springfield on May 4, 1865, but his legacy of freedom and a strong will for our country to survive lives on today.