Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

When people sit back and reminisce about the United States being one of the most prominent nations, they generally do not think that without one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States, there could be chaos and uncivilized conditions. Without this president, our great nation could have been divided into two, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Slavery, one of the most terrible forms of treatment imposed on a person, might still be in existence if it was not for our 16th president. Without Abraham Lincoln, no one would know, or even imagine where the country would be now.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and farmer. Both of Abraham's parents were members of a Baptist church which had separated from another church due to the opposition of slavery.

Lincoln had several jobs, including surveying, operating a store, and serving as a postmaster. He impressed the residents with his character, and earned the nickname "Honest Abe". Lincoln had many political successes in his life such as several terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, US House of Representatives, and the Presidency of the United States. Although there were many triumphs, Lincoln is remembered for his perseverance through many personal and political setbacks. He experienced several personal tragedies, failed in business two times, suffered a nervous breakdown, defeated twice for the Senate, and defeated as a Vice President. His persevering personality prepared him for the greatest challenge of his life - preserving the United States of America. The perseverance, determination, resolve, and the ability to face adversity demonstrated by Lincoln helped to shape the character of the United States of America then and still today.

In 1860, the year of Lincoln's first run for the presidency, many Southern states made it clear that if Lincoln was elected, they would secede. The South was against Lincoln because he opposed slavery. South Carolina was the first to secede in December 1860. Six other Southern states followed: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. After Lincoln's inauguration, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina also left the Union. These states became known as the Confederacy. The secession of the Southern states led to the first shots of the Civil War when the Confederates seized Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April 1861. Lincoln faced the greatest national crisis of any U.S. President. He hated war and the death and destruction it would bring. However, he accepted war as the only means of saving the Union. He warned the South in his Inaugural Address:

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

. Lincoln wanted to save the Union at all costs. In the letter response to Horace Greeley, Lincoln stated that he did not agree with those who would not save the Union unless they could save slavery at the same time. He wanted to save the Union, not to save or destroy slavery. Lincoln wrote, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Whether Lincoln hurt or helped the slaves, it was all for the sake and well-being of the Union. "The sooner the national authority could be restored, the nearer the Union would be 'the Union as it was.'", he said.

President Lincoln was unbiased and open-minded to ideas involving the saving of the Union. "I shall try to correct errors when they are shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views," he said. Basically, he would do anything he could to help the cause. Even though Lincoln tried to hear and respond to the nation's wishes, he had to favor the rejection of the doctrine of popular sovereignty. A possible explanation for this decision may have been that he felt the government was better equipped to decide on the fate of the country at war within itself over the issue of slavery.

Lincoln saw his duty as helping his people and restoring the Union. His country was his main priority. He took this responsibility seriously, stating, "I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free." Written in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Lincoln deemed, "...all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of the State, the