Preview

Biography of Abraham Lincoln

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
848 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Biography of Abraham Lincoln
Zihan Wang
History 1301
Ken Urbanowicz
9/30/2012
Book Report
Biography of Abraham Lincoln by James Russell Lowell
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States during one of the most consequential periods in American history, the Civil War. Before being elected president, Lincoln served in the Illinois legislature and lost an election for the U.S. Senate to Stephen A. Douglas. Nevertheless, his fierce campaign earned him a nomination for the presidency. The first Republican president ever, Lincoln led the Union to victory in the Civil War and ended slavery in America.
On February 12, 1809 the 16th President of the United States was born in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. It is unlikely that his uneducated farming father, Thomas Lincoln, or his mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln had any idea that their first-born son (he had an older sister, Sarah) would eventually be considered by many historians as the greatest US president ever. Abraham's birth may have been largely uneventful but as with all of us his environment and family began to shape his life. Before Abraham Lincoln's 10th birthday he had lost 2 family members. Two years later Abrahams mother Nancy died from 'milk sickness'. He had also had a younger brother who died in infancy. Abraham Lincoln soon had a new stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston. Abraham Lincoln’s education consisted of little more than a total of 18 months throughout his early life, and was mostly from itinerant teachers. This did not stop young Abraham Lincoln thirsting for knowledge though. He was an avid reader and borrowed books from neighbors at every opportunity. When Lincoln reached 21 he moved to Illinois, where he was hired to build a flatbed boat and transport materials down the Mississippi river. Next he landed a job working at a general store, and it was noted that he was very sociable. Lincoln soon became interested in town affairs and attended meetings regularly. After being asked to do commentary on

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The seceding of the South sparked controversy, and thus came the civil war. Abraham Lincoln served as president for 5 years. He served from 1861-1865. He was most famous for being a strong leader in the north and for leading the country during the civil war. He was a devout abolitionist and favored the Union.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States. While being the president of the United States, he was also the Commander in Chief of the Union Army during the Civil War. He would have to make very key important decisions and would need to appoint leaders of the Union Army. Lincoln strived for unity and for slave freedom. Halfway through the American Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States (1861-1865) was born is 1809, he came from a very humble family of farmers. Lincoln was an ambitious young man who learned to write and read and educated himself into becoming a respectful lawyer earning his license in 1837 and becoming a renowned public figure in Springfield, Illinois. He had an outstanding impact in the 1850’s when the Republican Party was fighting against slavery also known as the ‘’ Free-Soilers, and Anti-slavery Democrats’’. Lincoln got recognized during several slavery debates in a senate run in 1858 against S. Douglas claiming that: ‘’Slavery violated the natural rights of Black people.’’ He entered the presidential election in 1860 during the midst of slavery…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well-known Presidents because of the things he did. Lincoln helped the United States get through the Civil War, which had the highest casualty rate of Americans than any other war. South Carolina threatened to secede if Lincoln won the election, so the state seceded on December 20, 1860. (South Carolina, 1862) After Lincoln was elected he had to travel to Washington, D.C. from Illinois.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln served as President of The United States from 1860 until his death in 1865. The biggest decision he made in his life, and perhaps one of the biggest decisions ever made, was that to end slavery in The United States. However, this decision did not come without effect as it caused the Civil War between the North and the South. The civil war cost both resources and life, but in the end Lincoln was able to abolish slavery with the Emancipation proclamation.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln, I believe is a very influential person, and a great role model still today. He kind of had a rough life, but also a good life since he became the president.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bloodbath Research Paper

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Abe Lincoln was elected to become the president of the United States, also to become a commander of the Union. Lincoln’s whole idea during his term was to help the slaves out as much as he could. Well the south didn’t like how he wanted it so, the south started to secede from the country .He declared war against the south in order to stop slavery. When he first started out his first battle was the biggest of the war. After this battle there were many to follow. During the war, Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation that stated if the north captured the slaves from the south, they could have been let free to do what they please in the north. His importance to this was that he had the army to take control of major forts and win the war. After the war was over he was re elected again to be president for a second term. This was an important term because people from the south didn’t like how he ran things in the capitol. John Wilks Booth was accused to be the killer of Abe…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln Summary

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 by Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Lincoln’s childhood was preserved, and his education was gained through many different schoolhouses since his father was on the move so much. Abe Lincoln’s love for reading made his father’s relationship with Abe more distant. Since Lincoln did not have love for the plantations or farming, his father grew bitter towards his son’s future. Abe Lincoln’s coming of age required him to realize he was getting old. He decided to marry Mary Todd in 1842. A few years after his father died in 1851, Lincoln volunteered for the militia. This increased his interest in government and the Union.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A couple years after his mom’s death, his dad married Sarah Bush and she brightened the Lincoln household within minutes. Their family lived on a farm so Lincoln spent a lot of time out doing labor on the farm with his dad. Abraham learned to read, write, and do arithmetic. He went to school when the weather was warm in a one room school house. Dreaming of becoming the president is a big dream. You wouldn’t think it’s something that a laborer would not dream of……

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abe Lincoln Research Paper

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln was considered by many American’s as one of the greatest Presidents of the United States. Having come from humble beginnings it could be said that Abraham Lincoln rose up to meet all the challenges that would greet him, and it could be argued that at the time the only person who could successfully guide the United States through the Civil War was Abraham Lincoln. At the time of his presidency, the United States was falling apart, with the South trying to secede from the North, creating much chaos that Lincoln had to deal with. He worked slowly and throughly, which sometimes got people agitated but he was a very careful working man and knew that it was better if he took his time. Abraham Lincoln was not only the sixteenth President of the United States, he was also the man who helped bring the Union back together and helped abolish slavery.…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president during the civil war. Most people said he was the best president. During the civil war 3 million people went to war and 600,000 died.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the book, The Death of Lincoln, written by Leroy Hayman, it truly shows mostly every important event prior to Abraham Lincoln’s death and after the assassination as well. Like Lincoln, Hayman has known was true pain feels like. Not only was Hayman hit in the head by an ink bottle, but he survived the terrible accident and continued to live his heroic life although he became paralyzed for the rest of his life. After this horrifying mishap, he became an author which led him to the creation of The Death of Lincoln and many other biographies. In this historical, non-fictional book, Hayman supports his thesis of “The president was wrong about the amount of time he had left.” by describing every crucial detail that led up to the president’s death and the capturing of the murderer and his accomplices. Hayman’s real purpose for creating this book was to retell a worn out story in a different, creative way. Hayman didn’t just tell readers’ information; he described an infamous, devastating event that has now become a huge part in American history in an interesting way. Once readers have read his book, it leaves them satisfied with the fact that they know more now before reading it.…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lincoln started off on the bottom and climbed his way to the top. In 1860, Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States. He was never really a huge people person until he got the attention of many with his very well known, two minute speech in the Gettysburg Address. He tried to get the North to agree on the “new birth of freedom”. After his term was up, he ran again for President, thinking he would lose, he won.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln is most always associated with the Civil War. But, he was not elected through a majority of the popular vote. In fact, with only forty percent of the popular vote, he wasn 't even close to a majority. His Republican platform reached out to many groups, but left out the South. Many southerners thought he was an abolitionist, although he did favor monetary compensation and a Union. As a result of southern fears over Lincoln, he was not allowed on the ballot in ten southern states, and many states threatened to secede if he was elected. His election prompted the first state, South Carolina, to secede from the Union, and started the Civil War. This contributed to the growing rift greatly, in that the South not only felt their livelihoods were being threatened through the potential loss of their slaves, but also had a sense of disenfranchisement at the polls, because the minority candidate won. But, even though if Lincoln had not been elected, the Civil War would have been delayed, Lincoln was really just the straw that broke the camel 's back. The south was looking for an excuse to secede, and Lincoln gave it too him, which makes this election a relatively minor event in contributing to the civil war.…

    • 888 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good 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