Abraham Lincoln was very vital to the United States as President. He helped end slavery. Here is a little more about his life.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the Untied States. He was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. Both of his parents were born in Virginia and born of undistinguished families. Lincoln's mother died when he was the tender age of 10. When Lincoln was 8 his father moved he and his family to Indiana. There were many
bears and other wild animals still in the area at the time of their relocation. At the age of 18 Lincoln could read, write, and cipher, but that was about it. He made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years.
In 1858 Lincoln married Mary Todd and they had 4 boys. Only one of the boys though lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. Although he lost the election, debating with Douglas gained national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.
As President he built the Republican party into a strong national organization. He rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1,1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves in the Confederacy. Lincoln would never let the world forget that the Civil War involved even a larger issue. In his struggle to maintain the Union at all costs, the war had found an even higher purpose.
In 1864 Lincoln won re-election as the Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. The President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in the reunion. The Second Inaugural Address was the spirit that clearly guided him.
On Good Friday, April 14th, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington. John Wilkes Booth, an actor, somehow thought in killing the President he was helping the South win a cause that was already fought in war. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.
