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Abraham Lincoln is born in Hodgenville, Hardin County, KY.
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Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, dies at age 34.
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Lincoln’s father remarries, to Sarah Bush Johnston.
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Lincoln’s sister, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, dies from complications of childbirth at age 21.
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MARCH 3, 1837
Makes first public declaration against slavery. -
Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, IL.
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Robert Todd Lincoln, first child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, is born.
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Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie) is born to Abraham and Mary Lincoln.
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Lincoln serves as a representative to the U.S. Congress.
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Lincoln ends service as a representative to the U.S. Congress.
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Eddie Lincoln dies of diphtheria at age 4.
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William Wallace Lincoln is born to Abraham and Mary Lincoln.
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Lincoln’s father, Thomas, dies at age 75.
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Thomas Lincoln is born to Abraham and Mary Lincoln.
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Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act sponsored by Senator Stephen Douglas, which nullifies the Missouri Compromise and allows for the expansion of slavery. This spurs Lincoln’s abolitionist sentiment and his senatorial ambitions.
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Lincoln is elected President.
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South Carolina secedes from the Union.
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Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.
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Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery across the nation, is proposed by the Congress for ratification by the state legislatures.
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Shortly after 10 P.M. on April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. and fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln.