Abraham Lincoln: biography of the American president who abolished slavery
BIOGRAPHY ABRAHAM LINCOLN – A major figure in American history, Abraham Lincoln, born February 12, 1809 and died April 15, 1865, was President of the United States from 1860 and was assassinated five years later. He abolished slavery in 1863.
Short Biography of Abraham Lincoln– Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to a pioneer father who made him lead a difficult childhood through wild Indiana. He multiplies trades before fighting the Indians and then taking care of his education alone. Thanks to his intellectual capacities, he becomes a lawyer. He is interested in the cause of blacks and opposes the compromise of Kansas-Nebraska against Stephen Douglas. Despite his defeat against the latter, he was elected President of the United States in 1860, causing the secession of the southern states. Its only objective then remains the maintenance of the Union. In 1863, he proclaimed the abolition of slavery and tried to reassure his adversaries by non-repressive measures. He was re-elected in 1864, entrusting the army to Grant and still fighting for peace within his country.
Abraham Lincoln’s Childhood
The son of a farming couple, Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin in Hardin County. He lived a peaceful childhood until 1816, when his parents lost their land following an error in the title deeds. Abraham takes part in the work of the fields and the breeding. His father, from a slave family, decides to take the opposite view of his parents’ ideas by joining a Church opposed to the slave trade. From 11 to 15 years old, he attended school, but mostly worked in the fields. He is interested in poetry and develops a certain interest in reading. At 17, he left his family to work on a ferry. Subsequently, he became a storekeeper, postman and supervisor and soldier. In 1832, he becomes captain of his company and fights the Indians of Black Hawk. Aspiring to a political career, he preferred to become a lawyer after standing for election to sit in the state assembly. In 1836, Abraham Lincoln passed the bar exam.
His career as an MP
Lincoln began his career in 1837 as a self-taught provincial jurist. At the same time, he was elected four times to the Illinois assembly. Opposed to the war against Mexico in 1847, he had to give up representing himself and returned to Springfield where he concentrated on his job as a lawyer. During his career, he defended the Illinois Central Railroad, he dealt with criminal cases and distinguished himself in the trial of the Snow brothers. Thanks to his brilliant career, he obtained a reputation as an honest and eloquent man. Abraham Lincoln is elected to the Federal Congress in Washington where he is anti-slavery, but he is not in favor of the right to vote for the black population. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allows Lincoln to come back into the limelight. They’ opposed to this law which repeals the limits of the spread of slavery. He distinguished himself through his speeches against the creation of new slave states. Faced with Stephen A. Douglas, during the senatorial elections of 1858 in Illinois, Lincoln defends the idea that slavery is contrary to human rights. Thanks to this episode and this national notoriety, he ran for the presidential election of 1860.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States
Abraham Lincoln joined the Republican Party and on November 6, 1860, he became the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln won the election with 39.9% of the vote thanks to the division of the Democrats who presented two candidates. His first term, from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865, was mainly marked by the Civil War between the Northern States and the Southern States. A former member of the Whig Party, Lincoln opposed the extension of slavery into federal territories. On May 20, 1862, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act .. It allows each family that can occupy land for 5 years to claim private ownership within the limit of 65 hectares. On June 19, 1862, he began drafting the slave emancipation proclamation. During his tenure, Lincoln prioritized maintaining the Union and reintegrating breakaway states. He instituted income tax to finance the Civil War. On January 1 , 1863, slaves were emancipated. On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was elected for a second term.
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War
The Civil War, also called “Civil War”, tore the United States apart for four years, from 1861 to 1865. The conflict opposed the industrial states of the North and the agrarian states of the South. The war began on April 12, 1861 following the election of President Abraham Lincoln, in favor of the abolition of slavery. One of the main issues of this war is the abolition of slavery. The State of South Carolina fears that the new president will abolish the slave trade. The state rebels against power. Ten other southern states accompany it in order to preserve slavery. They then form the Confederate States of America. In his first term, Lincoln arrives in a divided America. The Southern States attack Fort Sumter and declare war. It announces the state of insurrection and provides for the raising of an army of 75,000 men. Lincoln develops a war economy in the North thanks to the factories.