Preview

How Did Abraham Lincoln Shaped American History?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1279 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Abraham Lincoln Shaped American History?
Most people know Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States and the guy who freed the slaves. But what most people don't think of is that Abraham Lincoln is also one of the most important and probably one of the best presidents the United States has ever had. His presidency left behind a legacy and he shaped the nation today as we know it. Without him and what he did as president, who knows what the United States would be like today.
Now before we talk about this amazing president and what he did, we need to start from the very beginning. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Lincoln had two siblings but one died as a baby. They were
…show more content…
She educated him as a child and taught him how to read. At this time, he first started his education which wasn’t a whole lot. When Abraham Lincoln was 22, his family moved to Illinois. There, he made a living doing manual labor. Abraham Lincoln was six foot four feet tall and very muscular and physically strong. He even wrestled when he moved to New Salem, Illinois and he was good. He only has one recorded loss out of all the people he wrestled. Rogerjnorton.com says that he even beat the town bully in New Salem and that made him very popular in the small community. When the Black Hawk War began, the people elected him to become the captain. Even though he didn’t fight in any combat between the Native Americans, he gained several political connections during the war. After the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln began his political career and was elected to the Illinois state legislature, in 1834. He decided to become a lawyer and moved to springfield, Illinois to begin to teach himself about law. After a long time of practicing law found that Springfield alone didn't offer enough work, so to supplement his income, he followed the court as it made its rounds on the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was Born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. Lincoln Died on April 15, 1865 at the age of 65 Lincoln’s Formal education was limited to 18 months of schooling. Prior to politics Lincoln was a lawyer Lincoln served as an Illinois state legislator, member of the House of Representatives and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate. Elected President in 1860; Lincoln served from 1861-1865 as the 16th President of the United States.…

    • 5601 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Soon after, the family had to migrate again to Macon County, Illinois, and again to Coles County. At this time, 22-year-old Lincoln set out on his own to make a living. For a short while, he made his living doing manual labor in Coles County, but had to move again to New Salem, Illinois. His activities and hobbies made him popular with the locals there. Later on, when the Black Hawk War broke out between the US and the Native Americans in 1832, the volunteers fighting in the war wanted Lincoln to be their captain. This was the first experience he had with politics. After the war, he set out to pursue a new career - law. He applied for the legislature of Illinois and was elected in as a member of the Whig Party. His support of Whig politics led him to develop his first views of slavery - not as a moral wrongdoing, but as a “hindrance to economic development.” As his career in the Illinois legislature went on, he decided to become a lawyer, teaching himself the law. He moved to Springfield, Illinois to practice law in the John T. Stuart law…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fiery Trial Summary

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, in Hodgenville, Kentucky. During his childhood, he grew up in a log cabin. Lincoln's parents were Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln. He got the name Abraham from his Grandfather. Lincoln also had an older sister named Sarah and a younger brother named Thomas who died as a baby. At age seven Lincoln turned family moved to southern Indiana. As Lincoln started to get older he got in the habit of reading a lot. In my opinion, I think Lincoln loved to read; he was just obsessed with books. But his father did not…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1908. His father was “said to be” Thomas Lincoln and his mother Nancy Hanks. He was born in a log cabin in Sinking…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was born in early 1809. During Abraham’s childhood he was forced to work on farms, and had under a year of schooling, so he taught himself to read and write. He moved away from his family when he was 21 years old. He was a self-taught attorney that got his law degree at the age of 23.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham didn’t have an easy childhood. He was born February 12,1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He had a brother named Thomas Jr. He was born around 1810 and died a few days later. His sister Sarah, married Aaron Grigsby when she was 19. One year later she died while giving birth to a child. Thomas Lincoln, his dad, built a log cabin in Springfield where they moved to at one point. Nancy, Lincoln’s mom, died in 1818 because she caught milk sickness. Sadly,…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abe Lincoln Research Paper

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages

    As one of the most well-known Americans the majority of Americans are aware that Abe Lincoln was born on February 12th, 1809. He was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Also, some facts people may not know are his parents, Thomas Lincoln, his father, was a respected figure in their community and was a strong and determined pioneer; and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, his mother, loving and caring, she taught Abe well. Lincoln was not an only child, he had a sister named Sarah and a brother named Thomas, who passed away during infancy. His brothers death was not the only tragedy Lincoln had to endure, at the young age of nine, his mother passed away and it has been stated that this loss greatly devastated Lincoln. A few months after the death of Nancy Lincoln Thomas Lincoln remarried. Sarah Bush Johnston a woman from Kentucky with three children of her own would become Lincolns’ stepmother. Research shows that her and Abe really hit it off, and it was Sarah who encouraged Abe to study and learn how to read. It could also be argued that the early encouragement that prompted Lincoln to eventually…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was born February 12, 1809, in Harden County, Kentucky. Both of his parents were born in Virginia. Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to study and become smart while he was working on a farm. He also split rails for fences, and worked in a store. He got very little formal education.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was born Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a small log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was named after his grandfather.( Freidel , Par.4-5.) He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. When Lincoln turned 7 years old the family moved to Perry County, that…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History 101 Term Paper

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln was a brilliant politician and leader. He made numerous contributions to the nation and had plans for many more had he not been assassinated. His death was a low point in our country’s history and had it not occurred our Nation would have been better.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lincoln was married to Mary Todd Lincoln Who was born in Lexington Kentucky on December 13 1818. They had four kids together named Robert,Tad,William,and Edward. His wife In 1882 well after Abe's death died due to a stroke in Springfield Illinois at the age of 63. Abraham was 6’4 and a good man while at the time he was fighting for no more slavery when the whole south wanted it. John Wilkes Booth in March 1865 tried to kidnap Lincoln but was unsuccessful so he assassinated Him one month later at Ford's theater. When Booth Made his acting debut at the age of 17 that's when he started to become popular. He is also the youngest of 10 children and was raised on a farm with slaves as the workers.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Honest Abe

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages

    from 1860 to 1865. From humble upbringings to becoming the most powerful man in America, "Honest Abe" is known today as a great and influential person who is often idolized in American politics. Lincoln is almost always voted the best or near-best President among historians (Wilson, 1). He helped mend the rift between the Union and the Confederacy, reuniting and reconstructing America and leading the way for his successors to twist this land of the free and home of the brave into the inspiration it is today. From his log cabin childhood to death, Abraham Lincoln was a great man whose legend lives on today.…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. He was the second child of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. Lincoln’s mother died when he was nine years old. After that, Thomas Lincoln remarried. Abraham got along well with his step mother. Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. He was the first Republican president of the United States. “Lincoln firmly expressed his opposition to slavery and his determination to limit the expansion of slavery westward into the new territories acquired from Mexico in 1850.” (millercenter.org) The South was against him, but the North supported Lincoln’s idea. Because of this, America became divided. Even though this was the case, “Lincoln was willing to compromise with the south to preserve the Union.” (Give Me Liberty, 489) Abraham Lincoln later married Mary Todd, and had three children with her. Among the three children, only one survived teenage hood. After the death of the President, Mary Lincoln became emotionally unstable.…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have been forty-four presidents throughout the course of American history, but only a few can be classified as a great president. Of those few historians’ rank Abraham Lincoln, also know as “the great Emancipator”, as the greatest president that ever lived. He is accredited with preserving the union, freeing the slaves, and enacting various new policies.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was one of America’s greatest presidents .Knowed to the world as the “Great emancipator”, Abraham Lincoln left a legacy behind. As the 16th president Lincoln managed to save the nation, he took the first step towards abolishing slavery, allowed blacks to join the military, gave his world famous Gettysburg speech, and many more. To many people Abraham Lincoln was a hero, to others he was a man with a questionable motive.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays