SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer, congressman, and outspoken opponent of slavery who did
not get formal legal education, was elected President of the United States for the 16th
time in November 1860, just a few months before the start of the Civil War. His
Emancipation Proclamation cleared the path for the end of slavery, and his Gettysburg
Address ranks as one of the most famous pieces of oratory in American history. Lincoln
proved to be a clever military commander and a wise leader.

John Wilkes Booth, a supporter of the Confederacy, plotted and carried out the murder of
Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, just as the Union was on the verge of winning the Civil
War. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln transformed him into a martyr for the cause
of liberty, and he is now largely considered as one of the most influential presidents in the
history of the United States.

A Look Back at Abraham Lincoln's Youth and Early Life

On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in a
one-room log cabin located in Hardin County, Kentucky. His birthplace was Kentucky. In
the year 1816, his family relocated to southern Indiana. Because he was always needed
to labor to support his family, Lincoln was only able to receive three short stints of formal
education from the schools in the area.

In the year 1830, Abraham Lincoln and his family relocated to Macon County, which is
located in the southern region of Illinois. There, he found employment on a river flatboat
that transported freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Lincoln became
involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party after settling in the town of New
Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster. In 1834, he was
elected to the Illinois state legislature, which he would later go on to become president of
the United States.
Lincoln, following in the footsteps of his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster,
was against the expansion of slavery into new territories. He also had a big vision for the
growing United States, with an emphasis on trade and cities rather than farm.

Did you know? Abraham Lincoln and his family had a terrible time getting through the war
years. After his infant son Willie passed away in 1862 from typhoid illness, the emotionally
unstable Mary Lincoln, who was already well disliked for her frivolous and spendthrift
habits, hosted seances in the White House in the hopes of speaking with him, which
earned her even more ridicule.

In 1846, Lincoln was successful in his bid for a seat in the House of Representatives of
the United States of America, and he began his tenure in 1847. Lincoln's staunch
opposition to the Mexican-American War made him unpopular with a large number of
people in Illinois, where he served as a representative. After making the pledge not to run
for office again, he went back to Springfield in 1849.

However, circumstances conspired to force him back into national politics: Douglas, a
leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act (1854), which declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal
government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free. This act
was largely responsible for pushing him back into national politics.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln and Douglas engaged in a debate about the merits of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act in Peoria in front of a large crowd. During the debate, Lincoln
denounced slavery and its extension and called the institution a violation of the most
fundamental tenets of the Declaration of Independence. Douglas agreed with Lincoln's
assessment.

After the Whig Party collapsed, Abraham Lincoln joined the newly created Republican
Party in 1856 and ran for the Senate again the same year. The Republican Party was
formed partly in reaction to the expansion of slavery into the territories (he had
campaigned unsuccessfully for the seat in 1855 as well). Lincoln delivered the now-
famous "house divided" speech in the month of June. In it, he cited passages from the
Gospels to illustrate his belief that "this government cannot endure, permanently, half
slave and half free." This belief led Lincoln to the conclusion that the country could not
function as a "house divided."

Lincoln subsequently engaged Douglas in a series of well-known debates; despite the

fact that he was ultimately unsuccessful in his bid for the Senate seat, Lincoln's
performance established a national name for him.

READ MORE: If you're interested in learning more about the 16th president, be sure to
check out the Abraham Lincoln information center on our website.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Presidential Campaign

After delivering yet another thrilling address at the Cooper Union in New York City in the
early months of 1860, Lincoln's fame skyrocketed to new heights. In May of that year,
Republicans made the decision to nominate Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for
president. In doing so, they bypassed Senator William H. Seward of New York as well as
other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer who had only served one
unremarkable term in congress under his belt.

During the general election, Lincoln competed against Douglas once more. Douglas was
the candidate for the Democrats in the northern states, while the Democrats in the
southern states nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. John Bell was the
candidate for the brand new Constitutional Union Party. As a result of Breckenridge and
Bell's efforts to divide the vote in the South, Lincoln was able to win the majority of the
vote in the North as well as the Electoral College and the presidency.
He assembled an extraordinarily powerful cabinet by recruiting many of his political
adversaries, such as Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Edwin M. Stanton, among
others. Seward was also a member of this cabinet.