President Abraham Lincoln   By Wira Quesada Period One Civics Report One First nine weeks

PAGE#2: TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE#3: OUTLINE

PAGE#4: INTRODUCTION

PAGE#5-12: BODY OF REPORT

Childhood
New Salem
First Campaign
Marriage
United States Congressman
Actions on Slavery
Presidential Nomination
President of the United States
The Civil War Begins
Emancipation Proclamation
The Draft
Gettysburg Address
Assasination of President Lincoln
PAGE#18: CONCLUSION

PAGE#19: BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He is considered by historians to be the greatest American President for leading and guiding his people trough the civil war.

Lincoln was known as a storyteller and jokester, but he also suffered from deep depression. He carried letters, bills and notes in his tall stovepipe hat. At six feet, four inches, Lincoln was the tallest president, and he was the first to be assassinated.

CHILDHOOD  Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a log cabin house. His grandfather was killed by Indians, before dying he planned to build a farm out in the forest the year was 1786. Thomas Lincoln was Abraham Lincolnís Father; he grew up without an education and worked hard labor. His father bought three farms in Kentucky to full fill his grandfatherís dream. Very little is known about Abraham Lincolnís mother, her name was Nancy Hanks-Lincoln. He had a sister who was older than him and also had a younger brother, they both died in infancy, and their names were Sara and Thomas.

    In 1816, the Lincolnís moved to Indiana. He was mostly raised to farm work, but he could read and write. Two years later, 1818 his mother passed away. Later on Abraham Lincolnís father married a widow from Kentucky named Sarah Busch-Johnson who had three children of her own. In 1830 the Lincolnís left Indiana and moved to Illinois. When his father could spare him from chores, Abraham Lincoln attended an ABC school. These schools were held in Log Cabins, and often the teachers were barely more educated than their pupils were. By the time Lincoln was 19 years old, he had reached his full height of 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in). He was lean and muscular, with long arms and big hands that gave him an awkward appearance.

NEW SALEM  When Lincoln moved to Illinois, he was hired as a store clerk, in the town of New Salem, he got paid $ 15.00 a month; he also used the market as a sleeping quarter or a dorm. He became one of the most popular citizens because of his honesty and loyalty to all the citizens in New Salem.

 Abraham Lincoln did not know mathematics that well; it was easy for him because back then people just traded items. While Lincoln worked at the store he used his spare time to read and study from books in the store. He was not really into novels and he was so honest to admit that he never ever in his entire life finished reading a novel.

   Lincoln decided to run for a seat in the House Of Representatives and a month later he found out that the store where he worked went bankrupt, therefore Lincoln did not have a job, after that he quickly enlisted as a volunteer for Governor John Reynolds of Illinois to put down a rebellion of the Native American Sauk.

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First Campaign When Lincoln returned to New Salem in 1832, Election Day was two weeks away. It was a presidential election year, and political parties had formed around the contending candidates. Followers of Andrew Jackson, who was seeking second term as president, called themselves Democrats. Followers of U.S. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky called themselves National Republicans and later Whigs. Lincoln supported Clay, who had long been his political idol. He remained a faithful Whig until the party disintegrated over the question of slavery in the 1850ís.

Lincolnís program as published in the Sangamon, Illinois Journal, called for the construction of canals and roads, better schools, and a low interest rate to encourage local economic growth. In his brief campaign, Lincoln visited farmers in their homes and fields, and shook hands and exchanged stories with as many people as he could meet. Nevertheless, he was defeated. There were thirteen county candidates running for legislative seats. Lincoln finished eighth. After his defeat, Lincoln opened a store in New Salem with William F. Berry as his partner. But Berry misused the profits and in a few months the project failed. Berry died in 1835, leaving Lincoln responsible for depths amounting to $ 1,100. It took him several years to pay them off.

After the store failed, Lincoln was appointed Postmaster of New Salem. As Postmaster he earned $60.00 a year plus a percentage of receipts on postage. He ran an informal post office, often doing favors for friends, such as undercharging them for mailing letters. The job gave him time to read, and he made a habit of reading all the newspapers that came trough the office. To higher his income, he became deputy surveyor of Sangamon County.

In 1834 Lincoln again ran for representative to the Illinois legislature. By then he was known throughout the county, and many Democrats gave him their votes. He was elected in 1834 and reelected in 1836, 1838 and 1840. His main achievement as a state legislator was the transfer of the state capitol from Vandalia to Springfield. Lincoln devised a strategy whereby the Sangamon delegation supported the projects of other legislators in return for their support of Springfield as the capital city. In American politics this kind of aid is called logrolling, a term that comes from frontier familiesí tradition of helping each other to build log cabins.

In 1837 Lincoln took his first public stand on slavery when the Illinois legislator voted to condemn the activities of the abolition societies that wanted an immediate end to slavery. Throughout his political career, Lincoln avoided extreme abolitionist groups. Meanwhile, he continued the study of Law and in 1836 he became a licensed attorney.

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Marriage  In 1840, Lincoln met a cultured, high-strung Kentucky woman named Mary Todd, who was staying with a married sister in Springfield. After a long courtship, they were married on November 4, 1842. Late in 1843 the Lincolnís moved from their simple rented quarters to a modest frame house in Springfield that he bought for $1,500. Of their four boys, only the eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, reached adulthood. He was born in 1843 and died in 1926. Edward Baker Lincoln was born in 1846 and died at the age of four. William Wallace, called Willie was born in 1850 and died in the White House, the presidential mansion, shortly before his 12th birthday. Lincolnís favorite son, Thomas, who he called Tad, was born in 1853, grew up in the White House, and died at the age of 18. Mary Todd-Lincoln has unfairly been pictured as a shrew that made Lincolnís life miserable. The death of her children caused her much anguish and after Willieís death she was often hysterical. On those occasions when she became upset, Lincoln treated her with patience and understanding. What he and his wife had in common was ambition. Mary aided her husbandís political career immeasurably. United States Congressman Congressman elected Lincoln was a popular, masterful politician in Illinois. Having succeeded in the Illinois legislature, he was confident that he would make his mark in Congress. Once in Washington, D.C., however, Lincoln became one of many unknown freshmen congressmen. He never lost confidence in himself. The Lincolnís, with their two sons, lived quietly in a modest boarding house. Lincoln had a small body of friends with whom he could relax and discuss politics with. Among them was Alexander H. Stephens, the Whig congressman from Georgia, who later became vice-president of the Confederate States of America. James K.Polk, a Democrat, was president while Lincoln was in Congress. Lincoln joined other Whigs in attacking Polk for starting the Mexican War. Congress had declared war against Mexico in 1846 upon Polks contention that Mexicans had fired on American soldiers in U.S. territory. In December 1847, Lincoln challenged the truth of his contention. He introduced a resolution questioning whether the spot on which the firing took place was actually in the U.S. territory. In another resolution he claimed that the American troops were on that spot in violation of the orders of their commanding officer, General Zachary Taylor. Lincolnís ìspot resolutionsî made little impressions either on Congress or on then President, but they did have an uproar in Illinois.

The extension of slavery into the territories was an important question during Lincolnís term in Congress. He supported the Wilmot Proviso, which proposed that slavery be prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico. Lincoln also put forward a program for the abolition of slavery in Washington D.C. Although Lincolnís proposal never came up before Congress, it exemplified his opposition to slavery and the moderate means by which he wanted to achieve abolition. The proposal called for the abolition of children born into slavery after January 1st, 1850. These children would be placed in apprenticeship programs to learn a trade. The emancipation of other slaves would be voluntary, and the slaveholders would be compensated for their loss. Presidential Nomination In 1856 Lincoln publicly identified himself as a Republican and in 1860 the Illinois Republican State convention met and named Lincoln as itís choice for president. In May the Republican national convention meet in Chicago. The chief contenders for the presidential nomination were Seward, Lincoln, Governor Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, and former congressman Edward Bates of Missouri. Only Lincoln was acceptable to all factions of the party. When his nomination was secure, the convention voted to make him the unanimous choice for president. President Of The United States On February 11, 1861 Lincoln said good-bye to his neighbors in Springfield and set out for Washington D.C. He now had a beard, which he had grown as a suggestion of a young girl during the campaign. On the way to Washington, Lincoln made many short speeches, but he did not commit himself to a specific policy regarding the South.
On March 4, 1861, Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president of the United States. He made Seward secretary of state, Chase secretary of the treasury, Cameron secretary of war, and Bates attorney general. Gideon Welles of Connecticut became secretary of the navy and Caleb B. Smith of Indiana became secretary of the interior. Montgomery Blair of Maryland was named postmaster general.

The Civil War Begins No American president had ever faced such a crisis and Lincoln had to find for himself the necessary powers by which he could pursue the war and uphold his oath to ì preserve, protect and defend î the Constitution of the United States. Recognizing the problem he said ì It became necessary for me to choose whether, using only the existing means, agencies, and processes which congress had provided, I should let the Government fall at once into ruin or whether, availing myself of the broader powers conferred by the Constitution in cases of insurrection, I would make an effort to save it. Despite his strong distaste for war, Lincoln was not afraid to wage total war to achieve total victory.

Early in the war a group of radical Republicans, called the Jacobins, began to oppose Lincoln's policies. The Jacobins called for immediate action against the South, freeing of the slaves, and strict measures against Southern leaders. Lincoln had given much thought to the problem of slavery, and he was under continual pressure from the Jacobins and the abolitionists to free the slaves. On April 16, 1862 he signed a bill that abolishes slavery in Washington D.C, with compensation to the slave holders and voluntary colonization in tropical lands for the slaves.

Emancipation Proclamation On September 22, 1862 Lincoln issued his preliminary proclamation of emancipation. In this document, he announced that on Ja nuary 1st 1863, all slaves residing in a rebellious state would be then, thenceforward and forever free. The Draft In 1862 the Confederacy issued a draft call for all men between the ages of 18 and 45. However, any man who was called for the draft could avoid it by hiring a substitute or paying $ 300,00 to the government. Before the draft the Union depended on the states to fill assigned positions with volunteers. Many groups called the draft a rich manís law because many wealthy men were able to bribe poorer men to take their place in the army.

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Gettysburg Address On November 19, 1863 Lincoln was called upon to deliver a  few appropriate remarks at the ceremony dedicating a military cemetery at the Gettysburg battle site. The famous orator Edward Everett made the main address. It lasted two hours. Then Lincoln spoke. Although his speech was short, it was a masterpiece. Assassination of President Lincoln Standing in the crowd listening to Lincoln speak was an angry, half-crazy actor with pro-Southern sympathies, John Wilkes Booth. Booth had planned for some time to kidnap Lincoln and take him to Richmond. However when Richmond fell, Booth decided on murder. He planned to assassinate Lincoln on Good Friday, April 14,1865.

On that day, Lincoln and his wife, along with General and Mrs. Grant, were to attend a performance at a comic melodrama, Our American Cousin, at Fordís Theatre in Washington. Lincoln told his cabinet about a dream he had the previous night, which he interpreted to mean that a final victory for Sherman was near. In this happy mood he did not mention another recent dream in he had followed a crowd of people into the East Room of the White House. There he saw his corpse laid out and he heard the people say,ì Lincoln is deadî.

That night the Lincolnís went to the theatre as scheduled. General and Mrs. Grant had been called away. At about 10:30 p.m. Booth made his way into the box. Choosing a moment when all the attention was on the stage, he put a pistol on Lincolnís head and fired once. The President fell in his seat, unconscious. Booth leaped on the stage, shouting,ì Sic semper tyrannis,î the Virginia state motto, meaning ì thus ever to tyrants.î He made his escape, but was killed while resisting arrest twelve days later. The same day Lincoln was shot, an accomplice of Booth made an attack on Seward but the secretary lived.

 The injured President was taken to the lodging house across the street. Mrs. Lincoln, friends and cabinet members waited through the night while doctors worked to save his life. At 7:20 a.m. on Saturday April 15, 1865 Lincoln died. When they covered his face with a sheet secretary Stanton said, ì Now he belongs to the ages.î A few hours later, vice president Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president. Lincolnís body lay in the East Room of the White House. On April 19, he was given a military funeral in Washington. Two days later his coffin was placed on a special train that carried his body back to Springfield. On May 4th the train reached the end of its journey, and Lincoln was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, near his home in Springfield.

Conclusion I learned that Abraham Lincoln was a very good person. In spite of his very hard life he was very lucky to be elected president of the United States of America. I admire the fact that he was a very honest man, people called him ìhonest Abeî for that. I feel very sorry for him and his wife for what they went through with all their children dying at a very young age.

I also agree with him on thinking that there should not be any slavery; all of us are created equal and therefore we should all be treated equal. We should not be enemies at any time. Just as it says on the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.

I also learned that Abraham Lincoln worked very hard to achieve his goal in life and that if you work hard and study, you can go very far in life. I think that it was a shame that President Lincoln was assassinated, if he was not murdered he could have done many more good things for this country and probably others.
 
 
 

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