Abraham Lincoln - Article Example

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), served as the sixteenth President of the United s of America from 1861-1865. His rise, from the humblest of beginnings to the highest office of the land, is a beacon of exemplary achievement. Lincoln presided at the helm of affairs at the crucial period when the Union was threatened by fragmentation. His sterling leadership qualities and peerless moral integrity steered the nation through the storm of the Civil War and laid the foundation of modern, egalitarian, democratic American society. There is a general consensus, among both historians and the public, that Lincoln is the greatest President in American history. Abraham Lincoln’s life, presidency, conduct of the Civil War, his speeches and his personality undoubtedly support his standing as one of America’s greatest leaders. Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin with dirt floors in Hardin County, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Thomas Lincoln was a barely literate farmer and carpenter. When Lincoln was seven, the Lincoln family, consisting of the parents, Abe and his elder sister, Sarah, moved to Little Pigeon Creek in Perry County, Indiana, which was wild frontier country. The family abode was a rough 360-square foot log cabin. On Nancy’s death, two years later, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, with whom Abe developed a deeply affectionate relationship. The young Lincoln cleared timber with his axe and ploughed and harvested the land, enduring “a youth of rough conditions, of mind-numbing and muscle-straining manual labor, of prolonged physical exertion” (Monroe, 2000).  His stern father hired him out as a paid laborer.  Lincoln received little formal education, except for a few weeks or months at a time. He educated himself, determinedly travelling for miles to borrow books. In 1830, the Lincoln family again moved – this time to Macon County, Illinois. Lincoln was then twenty-one years old. Abe moved out of home and worked on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.  In 1831, Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing. He went on to be a store clerk, postmaster, and eventually a general store owner. Abe earned increasing popularity with the public through his “wit, intelligence, and integrity” (Miller Center, 2006), along with his ability to read and write. In 1832 Lincoln ran as an independent candidate for the Illinois General Assembly.  Although he won 277 of the 300 votes in New Salem, he lost in the county. Later on in the year, Lincoln served as the captain of the New Salem militia company in the Black Hawk War, but saw no action. Lincoln adopted a program of self-study of law, passing the state bar exam in 1836, and received his license in 1837. He was appointed postmaster of New Salem and supplemented his meager income with work as a county deputy surveyor and small fees for routine legal work. Lincoln then embarked on his remarkable political career, culminating in his Presidency. On the night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot him at point-blank in the back of the head at Fords Theatre in Washington. Lincoln’s political career started with his election to the state legislature in 1834, winning consecutive terms in 1836, 1838, and 1840. He chose a position as a solid Whig, voting for a State Bank. Lincoln publicly condemned anti-abolitionist violence, but did not support full citizenship rights for blacks. In November 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd, belonging to a distinguished Kentucky family. Of their four children, only Robert survived into adulthood.  In 1846, Lincoln won the Whig nomination for a seat from the Illinois seventh congressional district and served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1847 to 1849. The highlight of his term was his denunciation of the Mexican-American War, asserting that Mexico had not stated the conflict and that the war broke out on contested territory. Abe also supported Zachary Taylor for president. He returned to Springfield and focused on his legal practice, becoming a highly successful lawyer in various commercial and criminal cases. After an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, Lincoln joined the newly formed Republican Party in 1856. In 1858, Lincoln won his partys nomination to the U.S. Senate and challenged sitting U.S. Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat. In a series of seven nationally publicized debates, Lincoln and Douglas argued over the issue of slavery. Lincoln’s campaign included his “House Divided Speech,” delivered in Springfield, Illinois, on June 16, 1858. It is “recognized as one of the most important speeches in American history” (Miller Center, 2006). Lincoln took the stand that the Declaration of Independence’s guarantee of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” extended to blacks, but stopped short of supporting full political and social equality for African-Americans. In his stand, Lincoln represented “the Republican Party’s essential values: opposition to the expansion of slavery, devotion to free labor, and reverence for the Union” and “showed that antislavery sentiments and racism coexisted in the Republican Party and throughout the North” (Foner, 2002). Although Lincoln lost the election, he gained national recognition and was acknowledged the leader of the Republican Party. He went on a campaign tour in support of Republican candidates. In May 1860, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president at the Chicago convention, passing over Senator William H. Seward of New York. Abraham Lincoln won with a huge Electoral College victory and a substantial popular vote of 55 percent to become the sixteenth President of the United States. Lincoln’s presidential victory “lit the fuse that would explode into the Civil War” (Miller Center, 2006). Interpreting his victory as a blow to their rights, seven southern states seceded from the Union to meet in Montgomery, Alabama, and form the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis as the President. Lincoln held that secession amounted to an unconstitutional act of treason. However, he delivered a conciliatory Inaugural Address, in which he promised not to interfere with slavery and put the onus of conflict on the Southern States saying, “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not mine, is the momentous issue of civil war” (Miller Center, 2006). However, it was too late. When Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, required resupplying, Lincoln notified South Carolina’s governor of his dispatch of unarmed supply ships. The Confederacy opened fire on the installation and the Civil War began. The War lasted for four and a half years, involved more than three million soldiers and resulted in more than six hundred thousand deaths. Lincoln raised a militia of seventy-five thousand volunteers. His Treasury Secretary, Salmon Chase, mobilized resources for the war effort. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, arresting and imprisoning suspected Confederate sympathizers without a warrant. He dealt decisively with dissent from the Peace Democrats and prevented foreign recognition of the Confederacy. By making the abolition of slavery one of the stated aims of the war, Lincoln ensured that England, with its strongly abolitionist public, did not support the Confederacy. Lincoln proved to be a more than capable wartime leader, soon mastering the nuances of strategy and tactics: “With no knowledge of the theory of war, no experience in war, and no technical training, Lincoln, by the power of his mind, became a fine strategist” (Lincoln Center, 2013).  He chose able commanders “who could win battles, pursue defeated armies, and engage the enemy no matter the cost in lives or materials” (Miller Center, 2006). He was dissatisfied with General McClellan after the Battle of Antietam, and General George C. Meade at Gettysburg, because they failed to pursue and destroy the retreating confederate forces. Ulysses S. Grant and William Sherman adhered to Lincoln’s desire to pursue and aggressive offensive war. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Virginia, surrendered his forces to Grant at Appomattox.  Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which stated that all individuals who were held as slaves “henceforward shall be free.” This was “the most revolutionary measure ever to come from an American President up to that time” (Miller Center, 2006). Following his reelection victory in 1864, Lincoln executed measures to ensure that the Thirteenth Amendment would constitutionally end slavery everywhere in the nation. The Emancipation document also opened the door to the enlistment of black men in the Union army, resulting in the enlistment of over 180,000 blacks as regular soldiers. Through the Homestead Act of 1862, Lincoln granted public lands to small farmers. The bill stipulated that any adult citizen could obtain a grant of 160 acres of public land by paying a small registration fee and living on the land for five years. The settler could own the land in six months by paying $1.25 an acre. The act spurred the development of the West. The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 transferred huge allocations of federal lands to the states to be sold for the support of agricultural and mechanical arts colleges. This laid the foundation of the great university systems. (Miller Center, 2006). Lincoln’s speeches stand as testimony to his greatness as a man and as a visionary leader. They encapsulated his position on vital issues in language which touched hearts and immediately gained the empathy of his listeners. They were tools to mold public opinion. His powerful words remain etched in history. In ‘A House Divided,’ Lincoln asserted that “government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” He ended his first Inaugural Speech with an eloquent call for unity: “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is considered one of the greatest pieces of oratory in human history, giving the world its ultimate definition of democracy with its conclusion “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln’s second Inaugural Address is characterized by a tangible nobility: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” (Abraham Lincoln Online, 2013). Lincoln’s personality had the hallmarks of a great leader. He had a boundless capacity for work and a towering intellect. He was a consummate politician, who could inspire loyalty and also manipulate other men through their ambitions. Underneath his patient, contemplative and understanding demeanor, there was “a hard core in him, and plenty of toughness” (Lincoln Institute, 2013). Lincoln’s White House was open to all and he treated all men alike. He was particularly receptive to the needs of common people. Secretary of State, Seward described Lincoln as “the best man of us all,” and went on to assert that “Steadfastness of will, fairness of judgment, humility of self, growth of mind and bigness of heart were the invincible attributes that Lincoln brought to Washington in those dark, bitter years when democracy as a workable form of government stood on trial before the world” (Lincoln Institute, 2013). His memory and sense of humor were remarkable. In spite of his lack of a formal education, he was undoubtedly “a man of genius” (Lincoln Institute, 2013). His strength of character was reflected in his ability to withstand intense pressure, his decisiveness and peerless courage and confidence. His actions were guided by a deep faith in divine providence. Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union, abolished slavery and transformed the role of the President of the United States with his inspirational leadership. He earned a place in history which few can match, now or in the future. References. American President: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). (2006). Miller Center. University of Virginia. Retrieved from http://millercenter.org/president/lincoln Foner, Eric. (2002). A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln. The Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/ahd/impendingcrisis.html Lincoln Presidential Links. (2013). Abraham Lincoln Online. Retrieved from http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/presidential.htm Monroe, R. D. (2000). Lincoln’s Biography. Northern Illinois University Library. Retrieved from http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/abio.html Mr. Lincoln. (2013). The Lincoln Institute. Retrieved from http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=1&subjectID=0 Read More