Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is considered as one of

America's illustrious heroes. His could be an
exceptional story of the rise from humble and
modest beginnings to attain the highest position
in the country. This was followed by his untimely
and tragic death at a time when the nation
required him most to complete the great task
that he had initiated but not completed.
Lincoln was born in a log cabin on the
Bluegrass State frontier in 1809, to the semiliterate, Thomas Lincoln and in all probability,

the illegitimate Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Thomas

Lincoln had returned to Bluegrass State from
Virginia together with his father in 1782. He
gained modest prosperity as a carpenter and
farmer on the Bluegrass State frontier. He
married Nancy Hanks, also an illiterate, in 1806.
Lincoln was born in Sinking Spring Farm, three
miles south of Hodgenville. Once he was two
years old, the family shifted to a different farm
on Knob Creek around seven miles northeast of
Hodgenville. On this farm of 230 acres,
Abraham lived for five years, helping his
parents and also learned the alphabets by
attending school.
During end of 1816, the Lincolns once again
shifted to the new state of Indiana. The Lincolns
lived in an exceedingly crude, triangular shelter,
sixteen miles north of the Ohio River. It was
here Abraham learned to use the axe and the
plough. He also helped his father built a log
cabin out of the hardwood forest.
Unfortunately, during the fall of 1818, Thomas
Lincolns sister in-law and her family, who
were visiting the Lincolns passed away due to

milk sickness. In all probability, it was caused by

consuming the milk of cows that had grazed on
snakeroot. Lincoln's mother also passed away
in 1818.
After a year of roughing it out, his father,
Thomas Lincoln went back to Bluegrass State.
There, he met another widow, Sarah Bush
Johnston and married her. She and her three
kids were the new addition to the family. His
stepmother provided the adolescent Abraham
more affection and the guidance than his real
father and mother ever provided. With a craving
for learning and motivation for selfimprovement, he read each book he could
borrow from friends, neighbors and the small
libraries. However, Thomas Lincoln neither
understood nor inspired his son's intellectual
drive. On the contrary, he criticized Abraham for
his laziness to prefer reading instead of
working.
During Lincoln's six years in Salem, he drifted
from one job to another. He worked as a mill
hand, store clerk, surveyor, postmaster, and
was also a partner in a retail store that

unfortunately had to close down. With a huge

six feet four inches tall and a gregarious
temperament, he made many new friends.
Abraham Lincoln's was totally against slavery.
He had little respect for people who denied
slaves the fruits of their labor. This was one of
the reasons that the relationship between father
and son progressively deteriorated.
His early exposure to the world came sometime
between 1828 and 1831. He traveled in a small
freighter down the Mississippi to New Orleans.
These visits broadened his horizons. He was
also aghast at the sight of men and girls being
bought and sold at the slave markets of New
Orleans. Thereafter, for several years, he found
central Illinois to be adequate to reside. During
this period, he also volunteered to fight Indians
as a national soldier, however, saw no action.
After that, he began to study law.
Later, he used to make fun of his military
expertise, removing it as so much from a true
war expertise. He spoke of it as consisting of a
bloody struggle with mosquitos. Being elected
captain of volunteers did provide him with his

first confidence of his gift for leading men. He

later said that it gave him a lot of satisfaction
than any he ever have had since.
After a preliminary defeat in 1832, Lincoln was
elected for two years later to the Illinois House
of Representatives. He succeeded to
leadership immediately, earning a name as an
exponent of politics and as a capable politician.
In 1840, Lincoln met and was engaged to Mary
Todd (Mary Todd Lincoln), a socially
distinguished daughter of a Lexington banker.
Although they broke the engagement soon
after, they met again later at a cultural event
and eventually married sometime in 1842. The
couple had four kids, of which only one, Robert
survived.
Abraham Lincoln served one term within the
U.S. House of Representatives from 1847 to
1849. His foray into national politics appeared
to be quite remarkable because it was rapid. By
the1850s, the railroad business was moving
West and Illinois found itself turning into a
significant hub for varied corporations. Lincoln

served as a Company Attorney for the Illinois

Central Railroad.
During the 1850, Lincoln's main political task
was to advocate his own formula of economic
vision. This restructured the banking, industry,
commerce, transportation, and agriculture. It
was funny that despite being a Westerner, he
had little interest in a westward sort of growth
expansion.
In 1854, Congress passed the act, which
repealed the Missouri compromise, and allowed
individual states and territories to make a
decision for themselves whether or not to
permit slavery.
In 1860, a campaign was formed to support
Lincoln for the presidency. Lincoln received
approximately forty percent of the favored
votes, however carried a hundred and eighty of
303 Electoral votes. Abraham Lincoln, the
sixteenth president designate, selected a
powerful cabinet comprising of many of his
political rivals.

Lincoln went ahead and completely abolished

slavery on January 1, 1863. It explicitly stated
that every slave would now be free. Before a
political battle had an opportunity to firmly
develop, well-known actor, and Confederate
sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot dead
Lincoln at Fords Theater in Washington, D.C.
on 14 April 1865. It was sad that he did not live
to envision however the birth of freedom, in a
free America.
Scorned and ridiculed by several critics
throughout his presidency, Lincoln virtually
became more of a saint and a martyr. His words
and deeds lived after him and it looks quite
seemingly that while not his determined
leadership the country would be what it is today.
The republic endured, and slavery perished.
That, in four words, is Lincolns legacy.