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Lincoln was born
Abraham Lincoln was born in the morning on Feburary 12, 1809 in a log cabin on the Kentucky frontier. Lincoln was named after his grandfather. His parent's names were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks and he had one sister named Sarah. -
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Lincoln's Lifeline
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Served in government
Lincoln at the age of 24, served in the state government of Illinois. He was elected as a Whig, where he spoke against slavery, saying it was "founded on both injustice and bad policy." -
Leader of Whig party
On September 9, Lincoln recieved his law license and became a ledaer of the Whig party. He first praticed law in Springfield, Illinois. He needed a place to keep his important papers with him all of the time, so he bought a tall, black hat to stick them in. -
Got married
Lincoln married Mary Todd on November 4, a lively girl from Kentucky. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13,1818 to a prominent family. Mary and Lincoln became good friends, but in the fall of 1842 they decided to get married. -
Elected President
Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States, the first Republican. He recieved 180 of303 possible electoral votes and 40% of the popular vote, with the South voted mostly against him. That was a difficult time to be president because many Southern states did not agree with Lincoln on slavery and declared they were not part of the United States. -
Civil War started
The South had left the Union because of slavery disputes, and the Civil War began April 12, with the first shots being fired at Fort Sumpter. The United States struggled political and nation wise, but Lincoln was the glue that held our nation together. -
Emancipation Proclamation
On Janurary 1, President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by the Confederates and this caused there to be more black soldiers in the war fighting for their's and all other slaves their freedom. The war to preserve the Union now becomes a revolutionary struggle for the abilition of slavery. -
Reelected President
Lincoln was reelected President. He won the election against Democrat George B. McClellan. He carrieed 22 of the 25 participating states and he recieved 55% of the popular votes and 212 of 233 electoral votes. Lincoln told his supporters, "I earnestly believe that the consenquences of this day's work will be to the lasting advantage, if not the very salvation, of the country." -
Civil War over
The CIvil War ended after 4 hard years of two different sides fighting for what they believe in. General Lee's troops were surrounded and on April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender to the Union or go down hard. The two commanders met on April 9, at the Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the surrender of the Confederacy. -
Lincoln assasinated
On April 14, Lincoln attended a play at Ford's Theatre with his wife, Mary. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth because he disagreed with Lincoln's opinion about slavery. Lincoln was talking to his wife when he got shot and his last words were, "She won't think anything about it." John hoped that since he shot Lincoln it would throw the country into a political chaos. Lincoln died on the morning of April 15, but he is always remembered as one of the greatest presidents the U.S. has ever had.