Abraham Lincoln was born on Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and he was named for his paternal grandfather. Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and farmer. Both of Abraham’s parents were members of a Baptist congregation which had separated from another church due to opposition to slavery.
His mother Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness in 1818. Thomas Lincoln remarried the next year and Abraham loved his new stepmother. Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. She brought three children of her own onto the household.
Abraham started attending school at irregular intervals. He spent less than 12 months going to school and he didn’t even attend the college. As he grew up he loved reading and preferred learning to working in the fields. His father did not like this as he was just the opposite.
In Springfield in 1839 Lincoln met Mary Todd. He married her three years later and had four children in the next 11 years. Lincoln became a successful attorney and the family bought a home at the corner of Eighth Jackson in 1844.
In 1864 Lincoln ran for the United States House of Representatives and won. He became known for his opposition to the Mexican War and to slavery.
He made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate but received some support for the republican vice-presidential nomination in 1856 and gave his Lost Speech. He opposed the Dred Scott decision in 1857 and gave his famous “House Divided” speech on June 16, 1858.
Although William Seward was the pre-convention favorite for the republican presidential nomination in 1860, Lincoln won on the third ballot. With Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate, Lincoln was elected the 16th president on November 6, 1860, defeating Douglas, John bell and John C. Breckinridge.
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, the Lincoln attended a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. During the performance Booth arrived at the theatre and shot the president in the back of his head. Lincoln passed away the next day in the morning.
This was the first presidential assassination in American history. His death was the result of the deep divisions and hatreds. Lincoln’s body was buried in the Lincoln’s Tomb in oak ridge cemetery on May 4, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln is remembered for his vital role as the leader in preserving the union during the civil war and beginning the process that led to the end of slavery in the United States. He is also remembered for his character, his speeches and letters and as a man of humble origins whose determination and perseverance led him to the nation’s highest office.
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