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Abraham Lincoln was born in a single-room log cabin, Hardin Country, Kentucky.
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Mary Todd married Abraham Lincoln, at her sister Elizabeth's home in Springfield, Illinois. She was 23 years old and he was 33 years of age.
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He was elected to the House of Representatives for Illinois. During his period in Congress, Lincoln criticised President Folk’s handling of the American-Mexican War.
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He saw the slavery question re-emerge as a prominent divisive national issue. Lincoln abhorred slavery and from a political perspective wished to prevent slavery being extended and ultimately be phased out.
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Lincoln was nominated as Republican candidate for the Senate. He undertook a series of high-profile debates with the Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglass. Douglass was in favour of allowing the extension of slavery – if citizens voted for it. Lincoln opposed the extension of slavery.
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Lincoln was also invited to give a notable address at Cooper Union in New York. The East Coast was relatively new territory for Lincoln; many in the audience thought his appearance awkward and even ugly, but his calls for moral clarity over the wrongness of slavery struck a chord with his East coast audience.
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Lincoln is widely regarded as one of America’s most influential and important presidents. As well as saving the Union and promoting Republican values, Lincoln was viewed as embodying the ideals of honesty and integrity.
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Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared the freedom of slaves within the Confederacy.
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Towards the end of the year, many black regiments were raised to help the Union army.
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After a difficult opening two years, the tide of war started to swing towards the Union forces – helped by the victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.
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Lincoln helped pass through Congress a bill to outlaw slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was officially signed into law.
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Five days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while visiting Ford’s Theatre. Lincoln’s death was widely mourned across the country.
