Abraham

th 16 President of the United States

Born in Hardin County, Kentucky on - February 12, 1809.

Died in , Washington, D.C - on April 15, 1865, aged 56. Family Life

Parents: Father – (1778 - 1851) Mother – Nancy Hanks Lincoln (1784 – 1818) Died to milk sickness when Abraham was 9 years old. Abraham was their second child. Marriage & Children Wife – Met in Springfield, Illinois in December 1839. Married in Springfield on November 4, 1842. Children: (1843 - 1926) (1846 - 1850) (1850 - 1862) Thomas (1853 - 1871) Lincoln's Early Life & Career

Preferred learning over manual labor and was mostly self- taught. Family moved west to Illinois in 1830 out of fear of a milk sickness outbreak. Love of knowledge and public interaction as a shopkeeper helped him become a popular speaker. First campaign was in the 1832 Illinois General Assembly, but lost placing 8 of 13. Second campaign was in 1834 for the state legislature as a Whig Democrat. Served 4 successive terms. Studied law by himself and was admitted to the bar in 1836. Mostly left politics and worked as a lawyer for 16 years. Political Career & Civil War

Challenged Steven Douglas for U.S. Senate seat in 1858. Main point of debate was slavery in the United States. Douglas won the election. Gained attention of Republican party and was nominated as the Republican candidate for the 1860 presidential election. Was elected president on November 6, 1860 and inaugurated on March 4, 1861. 7 states seceded and created the Confederate States of America in response to Lincoln winning presidency. Political Career & Civil War cont'd.

Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in April 12, 1861 and started the . Lincoln took action by assuming the role of command-in- chief. Learned technical military terms by reading Elements of Military and Art and Science. Issued an executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation which changed the legal status of enslaved people from “slave” to “free” on January 1, 1863. Reelected for president and gave his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. Established the final Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. Lincoln's Assassination

John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head at point-blank range at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln was in a coma for 9 hours and died at 7:22 am on April 15. Blame John Parker, Lincoln's bodyguard, who left to drink at the saloon next door during intermission. Coffin placed in a train which would make stops from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois so people could pay their respects to him. Religious and Philosophical Beliefs

Was a religious skeptic as a young man, however later in life he attended church frequently with Mary. May have become more interested in religion after losing two of his children. Never joined a church, but still had a deep knowledge of the Bible and quoted it in his speeches. Mostly kept quiet about his beliefs and respected the beliefs of others. Embraced the “doctrine of necessity”, a form of fatalism and deism. "the human mind is impelled to action, or held in rest by some power, over which the mind itself has no control." Some Important Speeches

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (The Great Debates of 1858) Seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas Douglas says democracy is compatible with slavery Lincoln says that “All men are equal” was placed to stop turning “free people back into the hateful paths of despotism.” A House Divided Meant to show the danger of the government not enduring with a half slave and half free split. Different opinion to Douglas who advocated popular sovereignty. Cooper Union Address Won the Republican nomination over better known candidates because of this speech. Showed that founding fathers had intended to regulate Quiz

Was religious?

What was the importance of The House Divided speech?

What was the main theme for the Lincoln-Douglas debates? Who won the senate seat? Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L80_q2tPveo http://www.biography.com/people/abraham-lincoln-9382540 http://www.webcitation.org/62aAqLOzq http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/cooper .htm Sandburg, Carl (1926). Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years. Harcourt, Brace & Company. OCLC 6579822. Winkle, Kenneth J. (2001). The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln. Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 978-0- 87833-255-7. White Jr., Ronald C. (2009). A. Lincoln: A Biography. Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-6499-1. Prokopowicz, Gerald J. (2008). Did Lincoln Own Slaves?. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-307-27929-3. Douglas L. Wilson (1999). Honor's Voice: The