As soon as he term was up in the Army, he went back to New Salem with Election Day only two weeks away.  Now Lincoln was competing against a political party called the Democrats.  These were the faithful to Andrew Jackson, a famous general and Senator.   Lincoln was part of a party called the Whigs.  These were led by Lincoln’s lifetime political idol, Henry Clay.   To this party Lincoln remained until it desinigrated over the question of slavery. 

 

                               The plan that Abraham had as a state representative was to build more canals, roads and better schools.  He also wanted to lower interest rates so as to grow the economy in Illinois.  Lincoln had very good ideas for someone with very little education and political practice.  This was one of the key things to his success. 

 

                                When Election Day rolled around, Lincoln was defeated by overwhelming votes.  This did not seem to discourage him to much for he opened a general store and tried to see what God would have for him.  But things seemed very bad for Abe.  His business failed.  This also did not make him discouraged for he was asked to be postmaster of New Salem.  In 1834, Lincoln ran yet again for State Representative.  This time he was elected and then re-elected in 1834-1840.  And while he was in office, in the year 1837, he took a stand against slavery when some legislators decided to take a vote to abolish slavery by any means.  This was not to be for the legislation would not allow a vote to pass. 

 

                                Now in 1840, while attending a ball, he met his future wife: Mary Todd.   And after a very long courtship, they finally married on November 4, 1842.  Now you should know that Mary was very spoiled and haughty.  She would have unending grief for the loss of her sons who died in the Civil War and of sickness.  But Lincoln was patient and long suffering for her and sacrificed much for her and their children’s welfare.  These were the marks of a true Christian and father in this great man.    

 

                                At the time of these events, Lincoln was making about $1200-$1500 a year: very good for the time and place of the country.   So considering what people’s wages were in those days, Lincoln was actually a very wealthy man.   With wealth and popularity on his side, he decided to run for a seat in Congress.  Lincoln defeated Methodist preacher Peter Cartwright by overwhelming odds in the election of 1846. 

 

                                After a few years as a Congressman, Lincoln decided to start a law practice with a man named William Herdon, one of the best law men in all of Illinois.  Not long after this happened, Lincoln heard about a short, fat man named Douglas, also nicknamed the “The Little Giant”.  This man wanted to challenge Lincoln on the issue of slavery. So, in the year 1854, Douglas came to Springfield, Illinois to start debating with the great Congressman from Kentucky: Abraham Lincoln.

 

                                 Douglas started to give speeches immediately, telling of his Kansas-Nebraska Act which supported slavery.  Lincoln said that he would respond to this out cry the next night.  So only in shirt sleeves and collar, Lincoln made his speech.  Abe told his stand on slavery to Douglas and the hundreds of viewers who were listening.  Lincoln stated the famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal”, which he used time and time again to support his view on slavery.  Lincoln, although against any form of slavery whatsoever, avoided abolitionists groups because he hated violence.  The problem with this was that he would have to be forced to join the Republican Party.  The Whig Party was in rapid decline, but even though this was the case Lincoln remained a Whig until death. 

 

                                 In 1856, Lincoln publicly announced himself as a Republican and then attended a Republican convention in Blooming ham, Illinois in May of that year.  Then in the year 1858, Douglas came back to Illinois for reelection.  Of course Lincoln would be his opponent.  When the “Little Giant” found out that Lincoln was against him, he declared, “I shall have my hands full.  He is the strong man of the party- full of wit, facts, dates- and the best stump speaker, with his droll, ways and dry jokes in the West.”  (Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia)   Now there were to be seven debates that were to take place between the two great men.  Each would be about a length of three hours taking place between August and October of that year.  The gist of all seven debates was the issue of slavery.  Each man stayed on the subject and respected each others option, even when they were angry.  The debates astounded people all over the state of Illinois.  Thousands of people would flock the streets and buildings just to hear the two great men speak.  At the first debate, 10,000 people stood in the blithering hot sun to listen to these great speakers debate over the biggest issue of the time.  In Freeport, Illinois, 15,000 stood in the drizzling rain to listen.   

 

                               Lincoln felt very sure of defeating Douglas in this election.  But when the polls were counted, the Democratic Douglas had won 54 to 46.  Lincoln was somewhat relieved to be the loser of this election, because it gave him time to press his view on slavery more to the population.   But even through this loss, in 1860, the Illinois Republican Convention voted Lincoln to be the nominee for President of the United States of America.  This is how Lincoln was voted into nomination: A very well known senator named Steward won the first ballot 173-1/2 while Lincoln had 102.  Then when the second ballot was taken, most switched their votes to Lincoln’s ballot, making Lincoln only two votes behind Steward.  But on the third ballot four Ohio delegates changed their vote to Lincoln, which allowed Lincoln to win over Steward by only two votes.  God’s hand was truly on the election of nominees for president on the Republican side. 

 

 

                             Meanwhile, in the Democratic Party, Douglas (of course) was nominated.  This act made many Southern voters angry to the point where they stalked out of the room and then went on to create their own convention.  After creating a convention, they nominated John C. Breckinridge, a native of Kentucky.  The big day was here: the ballets were counted and then publicly announced.  Lincoln won by 40% of the electoral vote.  Douglas came in last but he went on to work for Lincoln when he was president. 

 

                          On February 11, 1861, Lincoln was to travel to Washington D. C. where he would start to give his inauguration speeches.  But, rumors of assai nation were heard around Baltimore, the city Lincoln was currently residing in.   So his closest friends smuggled him out of Baltimore into Washington D.C…  Now the media did not this sudden move by the soon to be president, because it made them look very bad in front of the world. 

 

                          In the day of March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, who now had grown a beard at the suggestion of a young girl, was sworn into office as the 16^th President of the United States of America.  His inaugural addressed was aimed toward the Southern states to try to bring them back to the Union.  He said that he did not want to interfere with the “institution of slavery” as he put it in his address.  Lincoln also said in his address that he did not want to start a war with the States of rebellion.  That was the last thing he wanted to happen in the country. 

 

                          But, unfortunately, war was necessary to stop the rebellion in the states.  After the Rebels attacked and occupied Ft. Sumter, a Federal fort, Lincoln had had enough.  He called for 75,000 volunteers to fight the Rebels before the situation got to out of hand.   This act caused Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas to join the rapidly growing Confederacy.  No president of the United States of America had faced a crisis as a civil war.  Lincoln was working day and night trying with all the power he had as Commander and Chief to stop this war and bring union to America.  He also faced many hardships such as finding money to support campaigns; supplies, and support from the people to bring this country together.  Many military decisions were made by Lincoln himself.  Even though lacking military experience and training, he made some very good decisions for the Army.  This showed that he pondered his decisions and that he was not a rash man. 

 

                       Two years later, in the year 1864, after firing two terrible generals, Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as head of the Army of the Potomac.  That same year Grant was appointed to the position of commander of all the armies of the Union.  Lincoln gave Grant his full support even when casualties ran high and defeats were many. 

 

                       On September 22, 1862, Lincoln presented his Emancipation Proclamation to all the people of Washington D.C. and all the people around the country.   His famous, but brief, speech stated that on January 1, 1863, all slaves in Washington D.C. that were in a  rebellious state, would be for evermore free.  This speech was also pinpointed toward the Rebel states more that D.C…   As a result of the Proclamation, 186,000 former slaves joined the Union Army.  Most served behind the lines, but those who fought were very brave.  

 

                       The last battle of the Civil War was just around the corner: the Battle of Gettysburg.  Gen. George Meade had decided to stay on the offensive while Lee retreated after the bloody Union defeat at Fredericksburg.   So on the first day of July, in the year 1863, the two massive armies met for the last time in a little town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg.   This was the bloodiest battle in the history of the United States to take place on American soil.  Lee badly beaten, retreated across the field to regroup his very dead and confused army.  Grant let him retreat for his army was badly beaten and confused as well.  This was a great victory for the Union for this battle had won them the war. 

 

                              The great Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 and died in 1865.  He served as the 16^th President of these United States of America and was probably the greatest and most godly president we have ever been blessed with.  This great, unselfish, man helped keep our country together in the harsh years of the Civil War even when he was harassed and hated by many for his beliefs, but he stood his ground to the very end.  This essay is about his life as a backwoodsman and his life as a political genius.  I hope you find it appealing to your thirst for information on Lincoln’s life.

 

                              On his father’s side, Abe’s ancestry dates back to a humble weaver, Samuel Lincoln, who immigrated to America from Europe. He settled in Hingham, Massachusetts during the year 1637.  After a few years in Hingham, in the year 1778, Samuel had a baby boy born to him and his wife in Virginia: Thomas Lincoln.  This man was to be the father of the great Abraham Lincoln. Soon thereafter, though, Thomas lost his father in a tragic accident.  He continued to live in the backwoods of Kentucky, while learning his trade as carpenter. Soon he became very skilled with this trade to where he could support himself quite well. Even through all of this work and hardship, he never lacked the basic essentials in life.  He always had what he needed.  Thomas was an honest man who always paid his taxes on time and attended jury duty when called.  In 1806, he fell in love with a completely illiterate woman, Nancy Hanks.  They were married in the same year they met.  Not much is known about Lincoln’s mother except that she came from a very poor Virginia family and that she always signed her name with an “X”.  As I had stated before, she was completely illiterate. 

 

                              After their marriage, the small Lincoln family moved to a small town which is called Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where, in 1807, a little daughter was born to them: Sarah Lincoln.  Not much is know about Lincoln older sibling.  All that is known is that she died at a very early age.   In December of the same year, Thomas saw that is was time to move once again.  This time it was to a bigger and greater piece of land in Hodgenville, Kentucky.  It had 348 acres, and on those 348 acres, a great man of God was born.  Abraham Lincoln was born into this world on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. 

 

                             But times were hard, and in 1816, Thomas and his family were forced to move to Gentry Ville, Indiana. Thomas had lost his title on the land he previously owned.  So they packed everything that they could possibly carry, and headed for Indiana.  They crossed over the Ohio River into Indiana to settle in Gentry Ville.

 

                             

 

 

 

                              The time of year the Lincolns left was a terrible time to choose, for it was winter.  So, as soon as Thomas brought his family to Gentry Ville, he immediately erected a crude shelter to keep out the cold while he built a proper home for him and his family.  After two years of living in Indiana, milk sick broke out, resulting in many deaths in the area.  One of its first victims was Nancy Hanks Lincoln.  She died on October 5, 1818, in Gentry Ville, Indiana.  Thomas was heart-stricken, but he persevered and in the next year, he took a trip to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where he met and married Sarah Bush Johnson: a widow of three children.  They remained together for the rest of their lives. Abe was very fond his new mother.

 

                             Abraham grew very quickly, and as he grew he was given more and more responsibility.  Chopping down forest trees and splitting logs were Abe’s specialty.

When was not doing farm work (which he hated by the way) he would attend an ABC school about two or three miles up the road in a log cabin.  Now something you need to know is that, in those days, teachers in country schools were just barley educated above their students.  This was a great difficulty to both the teacher and the student.  In his entire life, Abraham Lincoln had only less than a year of schooling.  But he could read and write and do basic arithmetic to some extent. 

 

                             Also in his spare time, Abe would love to read books by John Bunyan, Aesop, and Daniel Defoe. He loved to read the Bible as well. 

 

                              By the time Abe was 19 he had grown to his predestined height: 6ft. 4in!  This young man was lean, muscular, and had huge hands at the end of very long arms.  This gave him an awkward looking appearance.  Now as I had said before, Abe hated farm work.  One neighbor commented on his laziness, “Abe was awful lazy, he would laugh and talk and crack jokes and tell stories all the time!” (Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia c)

 

                              But in 1829, Lincoln would learn to not be lazy, for he was offered a job by a man named James Gentry to haul a cargo-laden-flat boat down the Missisipi to New Orleans.  This was a very risky job, because you could be robbed or killed from drowning.  Lincoln, by God’s loving hand, was able to go where he needed to go.

 

                              After this quick employment, Lincoln went to work for a Mr. Denton Offutt as a clerk in a general store in the year 1831.  The store location was in New Salem, Illinois.  Everyone in this town loved Abe because of his jokes and stories and good humor.  His pay was $15 a month as well as using the store for sleeping quarters.  People also liked Abe because he could draw up legal papers for the illiterate people of New Salem. 

 

                              In the spring of 1832, Abe took his first big step in politics: he ran for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives.  About a month after Abe publicly announced his candidacy, Offutt’s store went bankrupt leaving Lincoln without employment or money.  But the time could not have been better for the governor was enlisting men to fight against Chief Blackhawk, an Indian who was causing trouble for the settlers.  Lincoln immediately enlisted and served well in the Army.  Out of the three months he served, he never saw any fighting, but he took pride in serving nonetheless. 

                                                     

 

            This paper is about what my position of authority would have been in America in the 1850s.   There were many fantastic occupations in government I could have chosen from, but the one that I thought would work best is an abolitionist.  An abolitionist was a person who wanted to put a stop to slavery and all of its terribly evil practices. The reason I picked this position is because I personally believe that slavery is very wrong and cruel and should not be used anywhere in the world.

With all of the chaos and trade that was booming in the cotton industry, even with all of that should not have made the men more selfish for more money by locking up and making slaves of thousands of Negros from over the water. This is against what Jesus said in the Bible, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   Unfortunately, slavery also shows utter hatred for other men who are just minding their own business in their own country when a bunch of white men come and take the black man away to a place where he knows no one.  This also shows the pride of man in the sense that he thinks that he is better than the Negro that comes to his house to work and live because of his skin where he has come from when he has done nothing wrong.

 

           If I were an abolitionist, I would try to stop slavery the best that I possibly could without taking drastic measures as many others have.  Many have been very violent in how they handle the issue of slavery.  In the state of Kansas, 200 people were killed because both abolitionist and proslavery supporters decided that it was time to fight it off.  This I would not have done but would have tried to do it peaceably, without the fighting and chaos.

 

          I am a Christian, and I believe that abolishing slavery by force is wrong and that doing it by legally is the best way to go.  A man named John Brown is a fine example on how abolitionists can get violent and out of control.  In the year of 1859, John Brown got a group of slaves and told them to come with him and revolt.  They did and he raided Harpers Ferry, VA.  He lost and was hanged for treason soon after. 

 

          Now this is why I would want to be an abolitionist, so I could help to end this evil that was in our country and which plagued the hearts of men for so long.