Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th, 1809, on the Sinking Spring Farm, Kentucky. It was a log cabin a few miles south of Hodgenville. The family, which was very poor, relocated to Indiana when Abraham was seven years old. He helped his parents from a young age, thus, only received poor formal education.
Young Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois. There, he was a shopkeeper and eventually owner of a store. As a captain, Lincoln took part in the Black Hawk War with Native Americans in 1832.
Besides, he found interest in politics, spent eight years in local government, and studied law. Lincoln supported and later joined the Whig party. Some leaders of the party were in favor of the abolition of slavery. Lincoln was also fond of that.
✟ April 15, 1865, Washington DC, USA
Rising in politics
Lincoln became a member of the House of Representatives in 1847 but did not pursue reelection in 1849. However, he did not quit politics for good. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act allowed states to decide by themselves whether they ought to be slave states or not.
Disappointed with this progress, he joined the Republican Party, a party that strongly disagreed with the act. Though he lost in a Senate election, he became famous. It was thanks to his success in debates with Democrat Stephen Douglas.
He entered the 1860 presidential election. Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States on March 4th, 1861. Only a month later, the American Civil War broke out. His 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the North.
Lincoln was one of the leaders of the North (Union) when it faced the South (Confederacy). The South surrendered on April 9th, 1865. However, only five days later. A Confederate spy John Wilkes Booth shot the president in a theatre. Abraham Lincoln died on April 15th, 1865, in Washington. One of the greatest US presidents was married to Mary Todd and had four sons.
The United States celebrates Lincoln’s birthday as a national holiday. On December 18th, 27 of 36 states proclaimed the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery.
“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln
