Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in the state of Kentucky . The family was very poor. They moved several times and lived as pioneers in wild new country in Indiana and Illinois . They lived very far from cities and schools.
When Abraham was nine years old, his mother died. His father remarried and his stepmother helped him to learn to read and write. Since he could not go to the schools , he learned all he could from the few books his family and friends had.
Lincoln left home when he was twenty –one years old. He worked as a storekeeper , a surveyor and a mailman. He was friendly , kind, helpful, wise and very honest. People called him honest Abe.
In 1832, he ran for public office. He lost the election and tried again two years later. In1834, he won the election and served in the Illinois state legislature. During this time , he taught himself to be a lawyer. He was a successful lawyer and was later elected to the U.A. Congress in Washington D.C.
In 1860, Abe Lincoln was elected the sixteenth President to the United States. Just after he was elected President, the eleven southern states began to leave the Union.
The south wanted to have slavery in the U.S. and the north said slavery was inhuman. The southern states wanted to break away from the United States and form a new country so they could keep their slaves.
Abe Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong. He and his ideas became well-known in the United States during a series of government debates about slavery. He said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand". I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. He also said that once state joined the United States , it would be a state forever. The North began to fight against the South in a Civil War. Lincoln was the leader of the North.
From 1861-1865, the North and the South fought a bloody and costly war. Lincoln did everything he could to win the war of the North. He declared the slaves free in 1863.
But the southern states did not free their slaves until they lost the war in April of 1865.
Lincoln was elected to a second term as President. The war was over and the slaves were freed. Less than a week after the war ended , Lincoln went to the Ford Theater to watch a play one night. At 10:00 PM , he was shot by John Wilkes Booth , an actor who loved the south. Lincoln died early the next morning.’
Lincoln is remembered as the President who freed the slaves and saved the Union. His most famous sentence was: '.. a government of the people , by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Lincoln greatest speech was the Gettysburg Address. He gave it in a soldiers' cemetery in the state of the Pennsylvania at one of the great battlefields of the Civil War. Another great speech was the Second Inaugural Address. He gave this speech at the beginning of his second term as President . It was full of hope of the defeated Southerners and promised the help of the North.
Lincoln greatest hope was to keep all the states together under one government. He freed the slaves to try to save the Union. He fought a long, hard war to save the Union. He lived and died to save the Union.
Lincoln is buried in Springfield , Illinois , where he lived most of his live. His picture is on our five dollar bill ($5.00) and on our penny. In Washington, D.C there is a beautiful monument in honor of Lincoln. There is another beautiful monument in honor of Washington. These two presidents are remembered for their courage and honesty. Their birthdays are both in February and are celebrated together on President's day. It is a legal holiday.
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