Abraham Lincoln. His Life and Achievements - Research Paper Example

first Abraham Lincoln Introduction: Abraham Lincoln is the most revered President of the United s and has left profound impact on the Americans as well as the rest of the world through his relentless struggles, beginning with his birth and ending with his death. He was a man of character, integrity and strength. In the present discourse, an attempt is being made to understand Lincoln’s life, achievements, struggles, failures and their impact on America based on existing literature. Lincoln’s childhood: Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12 1809 in Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. His childhood was something that even Lincoln was never excited about because of the poverty and other challenges he had to face (Charnwood, 13). Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. His enduring struggle was to end slavery in America and to economically transform the nation. As a young boy, Abraham Lincoln was involved in helping his father and his neighbors (p. 15). Lincoln owes his mental qualities to his mother as well as his step mother. Lincoln’s step mother was instrumental in the minimal education that he received with parental support. Lincoln has the ability to attract crowd even from his earlier years of adolescence. This is evident from Charnwood’s statement, ‘Lincoln was a person of high consideration among the lads of his age and company’ (p.20). Literature related to Lincoln’s reading habits highlights his immense love for reading and reading habits. During his teenage, he read books like Aesop’s Fables, Robinson Crusoe, The Piligrim’s Progress, A History of the United States, Weem’s Life of Washington and even Revised Statuses of Indiana (Charnwood, 21). Even before he reached the age of 20, Lincoln had a deep understanding of how his nation functioned, the principles policies and its governance (Tarbell, 34). Lincoln left his home at 22 and settled in New Salem, Illinois, which were the foundational years for his future. Based on his own efforts, Lincoln acquired some formal education for next few years; he entered the legal profession at the age of 27 (Wilson, 15-19). His achievements in the field of law studies and the profession are attributed to his own hard work and constant struggle. His struggles in the profession of law as well as politics have been immense and are epitome of an ideal leader and a winner ever since he was elected as the President. Political affiliation: Abraham Lincoln’s first successful electoral is associated with the Sangamon County as the surveyor in 1834 and followed by the Illinois house of representatives as a representative for the Sangamon County in 1836. Lincoln was elected for the Illinois legislature during subsequent 3 years (Chin, 34). As explained by Mansch, Lincoln’s entry into politics is associated with the Nebraska Bill and did succeed in winning a seat in the Illinois legislature around 1854 (p.41). But, Lincoln resigned this post because he wanted to challenge Stephen Douglas, who was responsible for opposing anti-slavery. At this time, Lincoln struggled to gain political identity. Lincoln was deeply moved by the group fighting against slavery, known as free-soilers or anti-Nebraskans that was formed during 1854. At this time, Lincoln knew that he wanted a stable party that shared his political ideals and could believe in creating a prominent party of the future. Two years later, i.e. in 1856, different groups with these ideals supporting anti-slavery gathered in Bloomington, which Lincoln attended. Lincoln appropriately used this opportunity to bring together various groups that were fighting against slavery, poverty, and for democracy. Lincoln’s deep desire to abolish slavery and achieve a liberal democracy had made him say, ‘I have no objection to ‘fuse’ with anybody provided I can fuse on ground which I think is right’ (qtd. in Mansch, p.41). Lincoln’s personal experiences with the blacks were minimal, yet he was aware of the slavery rampant in his nation and the agony of the slaves. The Missouri Compromise movement was special for Lincoln, regarding it as ‘sacred,’ which had significantly balanced slave and anti-slave interests (Mansch, p.40). The Nebraska Bill, supported by Douglas and others was actually supporting slavery, which Lincoln was against; hence this bill further roused Lincoln and forced him to fight for what he believed was necessary. He opposed the repeal of Missouri Compromise and also challenged the concept of popular sovereignty because it was dividing the Americans further. Principles and character: Most of the principles that Abraham Lincoln followed and fought for were related to his understanding from spirituality and religion. Though many have argued that Lincoln’s interests in the religion and The Bible were contemplative, his principles were certainly based on spiritual teachings. Wheeler asserts that, The Bible was so central to Abe’s formative years later, listeners could detect the rhythmic beak of King James Bible English in his greatest speeches as president, making them sound almost biblical. Though there were certain interruptions, Abraham Lincoln’s love affair with the Bible would continue for the rest of his life’ (p.14). In one of his speeches at Illinois, Lincoln had argued, ‘If the Negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that “all men are created equal;” and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another (qtd in Davidson, 36). His love for humanity emerged strongly when he entered the U.S Congress in 1847, a time when the Mexican War came to an end. He strongly opposed the then president, James K Polk, for the unwarranted war meant to acquire territory (Wilson, 21). Lincoln was known to be honest, humble and kind to his fellowmen. According to Phillips, ‘Lincoln always did the right thing’ (p.54); this exemplifies his integrity. After Lincoln was assassinated, the London Daily News had referred to him as, ‘Rising from among the poorest of the people, winning his slow way upward by sheer hard work, preserving in every successive stage a character unspotted and a name untainted, securing a wider respect as he became better knowing, never pretending to more than he was, nor being less than he professed himself, he was at length, for very singleness of heart and uprightness of conduct, because all felt that they could trust him utterly, and would desire to be guided by his firmness, courage, and sense, placed in the chair of President at the turning point of his nation’s history’ (Shea, p.252). Achievements/milestones: Abraham Lincoln had started working on his oratory skills when he was a teenager. He participated in talking and story-telling activities just by starting all over himself. These acts gathered large crowds and were applauded by them. Lincoln’s fondness and efforts towards speech making is evident from Tarbell’s view, ‘In his fondness for speech-making, young Lincoln attended all the trials of the neighborhood, and frequently walked fifteen miles to Boonville to attend court,’ (36). Abraham Lincoln’s love for his people was a quality that he already possessed; this quality was witnessed by many people since Lincoln’s childhood days. Over the years and based on his study of the downtrodden and slaves, his interest in the uneducated and downtrodden people only deepened. Whenever he got an opportunity for public speaking, he emphasized education and the importance of the ability to read and understand. As described by Howard, ‘Lincoln became the man that is recognized by the world over as the great liberator of human potential. Not only did he liberate his own potential, he engineered social changes that freed the potential of others’ (69). Abraham Lincoln was able to attract large masses of followers by showing them their future and the future of their nation. The people of America knew that Lincoln understood their suffering, which helped Lincoln in gaining their confidence. He was able to win the hearts of millions of Americans through his vision, which was also the people’s wish. Abraham Lincoln’s specific achievements cannot be numbered because of the constant challenges he had to face and the number of times he failed in his attempts to fight slavery and inhuman behavior. Yet, Lincoln is known as the achiever of greatness; he was the creator of new perspective for America, which echoes even today. Abraham Lincoln was successful in abolishing slavery and promoting free labor. Lincoln believed that free labor would help the economy and was morally correct. Lincoln worked hard to spread the message of anti-slavery and also not to spread slavery to states where it did not exist. During 1860s, Lincoln’s tour of the Midwestern states and towards the south proved beneficial for his presidential elections. Conquering the civil war was yet another achievement in Lincoln’s life. Challenges and Failures: Abraham Lincoln was challenged by various emotional, financial, social, psychological issues all through is life. He had difficulty in acquiring good education. He lost his mother at a very young age, and later experienced death of his fiancee. Following this Lincoln experienced many unstable relationships, which further added to the confusion and turmoil. When Lincoln finally married Mary Todd, he had to put up with the differences both shared due to their background and class. On a different note, Burlingame notes that Lincoln was rude with his opponents during his first half of political career, which were the causes for his own destruction. He changed drastically after his midlife transition. Levinson describes this change as the result of experience, thought and self reflection, but not something acquired from books or external sources (Burlingame, 8). Abraham Lincoln was elected as the President of the United States in 1860, which was immediately followed by the announcement of the civil war. The civil war was the greatest challenge that Lincoln faced during his Presidential term. Without any specific experience of managing the war, Lincoln adopted a strategic approach by appointing generals from within the civil life. Moreover, Lincoln also faced the challenge of appointing his previous rivals into his cabinet (Wilson, 35). With too many challenges and successfully ending the civil war, Lincoln appeared for next round of elections, which he again won victoriously. But, he was soon assassinated on April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth who was supported by other conspirators that wanted the war to continue. Abraham Lincoln has been the ideal figure for human motivation that rose every time he failed; in fact, his failures could be counted as many more than his success milestones. Many instances of Lincoln’s sadness and depression have been quoted in the literature as his midlife crises (Burlingame, 3). Beveridge referred to the crises years, from 1849 to 1854, as the five desolate years (qtd in Burlingame, 3). This was just before he won the Illinois legislature. These five years were filled with suffering, confusion, rage, and grief from within. Nicolay highlights few of Lincoln’s failures that include the failure in Black Hawk war; failed as a merchant; experienced defeat in his first campaign for the legislature; failed to earn nomination for the Congress; experienced defeat four times as the President Elector; and failed to earn appointment as the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Each of these failures further added to his misery to handle the situation, which eventually caused Lincoln great depression. Lincoln considered himself as a failed lawyer, a failed politician and also a person with failed ambition (p.4). Another instance that precedes the crisis period is the Mexican War, which Lincoln did not support. Subsequent to this war, Lincoln’s decision to support the war champion, General Zachary Taylor, turned out against Lincoln, which further frustrated Lincoln’s ambitions (Wilson, 21). When Lincoln was out of this crisis, he was a different man, yet himself. At this stage, Lincoln was ambitious but not hungry or deliberate for external attention and/or approval. Lincoln’s transition had brought a very different understanding of himself, to describe which he had stated in 1863 in Missouri, ‘it is my ambition and desire to so administer the affairs of the government while I remain president that if at the end I shall have lost every other friend on earth I shall at least have one friend remaining and that one shall be down inside of me’ (qtd in Burlingame, 8). Conclusions: To sum up Abraham Lincoln’s ideology, which he successfully achieved by associating with political career, is a challenging task because of the sheer number of challenges he faced. As a man of character, integrity and humility, his struggles culminated into triumphant victory by successfully abolishing slavery, winning the civil war, and achieving liberty in the US. From this research, it would be appropriate to mention that Abraham Lincoln was born to struggle and provide the light emerging from his suffering to the humanity. Every time he tackled a challenge, others were waiting to haunt him. His demise happened when he had accomplished his deepest desire, of abolishing slavery, and things seemed to go well for him. His sturdiness, mental strength, passion and belief in himself, kindness to fellow humans helped in deviating from his mission. His humility reflects in his acceptance of mistakes; struggle to change himself; learning from the past; and to be honest. His skills like ability to make powerful speeches and influence others, diplomatic and strategic thinking, and strong determination aided in winning people’s hearts and minds. With such simple and humane, yet strong qualities, Abraham Lincoln has made a profound impact on the world and is absolutely worth epitomizing as an idol figure. Works Cited Burlingame, Michael. The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Charnwood, Lord. Abraham Lincoln: A Complete Biography. New Delhi: General Press, 2008. Chin, Diane. Abraham Lincoln led the battle against slavery. Weekly World News. 24 Mar 1981. Davidson, Tim. Speech at Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854. Essentials of Lincoln. Aquitaine Media Corp, 2009. Howard, Donald E. The Role of Reading in Nine Famous Lives. North Carolina: McFarland, 2005. Mansch, Larry. D. Abraham Lincoln, President-Elect: The Four Critical Months from Election to Inauguration. USA: McFarland, 2007. Phillips, Donald. Lincoln on Leadership. Illinois: Companion Books, 2009. Shea, John Gilmary. Ed. The Lincoln memorial: a record of the life, assassination, and obsequies of the martyred President. New York: Bunce and Huntington, 1865. Tarbell, Ida M. The Life of Abraham Lincoln: Drawn from Original Sources and Containing Many Speeches, Letters and Telegrams. New York: Cosimo, Inc., 2008. Wheeler, Joe. Abraham Lincoln, A Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008. Wilson, Douglas L. Groundwork for Greatness: Abraham Lincoln to 1854. Abraham Lincoln: A Legacy of Freedom. U.S. Department of State, 2008. 19 July from, http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/bbf/le/lincoln.pdf Read More