Abraham Lincoln
An unbiased observer in the early 1800’s would likely have seen little in young Abraham Lincoln to suggest that this poor, backwoods, under educated, sinewy youth would arguably be one of the greatest single forces affecting the course of American history. Only the founding fathers themselves can rightfully be held in the same ranks. This man came at pivotal time in American history, with a force of conviction, a unrelenting will and was catapulted to the position of commander in chief in an era where the nation was dividing of moral issues and threatened to split in two.
The Early Years
Abraham Lincoln’s birth and early years were unexceptional in many ways, lacking the indicators, of the greatness or the force in history this child would grow to be. He was born on the12th of February in 1809 in a small log cabin with dirt floors near Knob Creek, Kentucky. He was the second of the two children that Thomas and Nancy Lincoln had together. He lacked the advantages awarded to a child born into wealth or a good name; both his biological parents were in fact illiterate and all in all Lincoln claimed to have spent a total of one year being formally educated as a youth. About his own childhood Lincoln was quoted as saying, “It is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of my early life. It can all be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence, you will find in Gray’s Elegy ‘the short and simple annals of the poor.’ That is my life, and that’s all you, or anyone else can make out of it.” (Freedman pg 7)
By the time Lincoln was in his mid twenties, he had suffered through numerous tragedies. The first of them being the death of his mother, a few years later his only sister died in childbirth, and his good friend Ann Rutledge passed away. Lincoln’s step-mother saw something special in Lincoln, instead of favoring her own biological children; she paid him special attention and encouraged him in his studies. She made sure he had sufficient time to study, and even prophesied over the boy Lincoln, saying, “someday Abe will be a great man.” (Jacobs, pg 8) It’s most likely that Abe’s step-mother was the most benevolent force in molding Abraham Lincoln. Later, in reference to his step-mother, Lincoln said, “all that I am, all that I ever hope to be, I owe to my mother.” (Jacobs, pg 8)
He also suffered financial ruin. Lincoln left home at the age of 21 after he had seen to it that his family would be properly cared for, and were settled into their new residence in central Illinois. Shortly after that, he started a joint business in New Salem. It was a mercantile called the Berry-Lincoln store. His partner William Berry however, had a penchant for hitting the whiskey barrel too much, and the business went bankrupt. Berry later died, and Lincoln was left with the entire debt, which amounted to a little over a thousand dollars. At that time, that was an almost insurmountable debt for someone in Lincoln’s financial condition. It took him 15 years to pay off the debt, which he often referred to as “the national debt.” (Jacobs, pg15)
Many factors influenced Abraham Lincoln in his youth. Before his mother died, she gathered all the children together, and said to them, “be good and kind to your father, to one another, and to the world” (Freedman pg 11) Abraham was a thoughtful young man who, no doubt, took these words to heart. At the age of 18, he took a trip to New Orleans. There for the first time, he saw the black men, women, and children, chained, auctioned off, and treated like animals. No doubt, with his reflective nature, and the dying request of his mother, that he, ‘be kind to the world’ no doubt it was a troubled young Abraham, who was later quoted as saying, “if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel.” (Freedman pg 45)
Lincoln and Politics
Lincoln’s time in New Salem, was a period where he learned, studied, reflected, debated, and was generally being refined as a man and a politician. In 1832, he ran for state legislature and lost coming in 8th out of 13. But in his own precinct, he won 227, out of 300 votes. By 1834, at the age of 25, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. Lincoln began to study law, and within three years, he had passed the law exams and became a circuit lawyer. When legislature was not in session, he travelled around the circuit taking on all different kinds of cases. He had a great mind for memorizing and understanding the law, as well as being able to take an issue and bring it down to a nut shell that could be clearly understood by a jury. This also gave him an opportunity to practice his public speaking abilities.
It was during his time as a lawyer, that Lincoln met the young Mary Todd. She came from a wealthy and influential family. For the Todd family, Lincoln was good enough to associate with for the purpose of making influential social connections, but not good enough to have as an in-law. Lincoln and Todd began to court. He was moody and thoughtful, while she was outgoing and highly social. They must have seemed ill matched on the surface but despite their differences they apparently fell in love. After various disputes over the courtship within her family and a short break up, they eventually ended up married. Mary Todd, like Lincolns step mother, saw potential greatness in Lincoln and said to a friend,” Some day, he will be famous, maybe even president of the United States” (Jacobs, pg 20)
In Lincoln’s early political life, he was largely publically silent on the issue of slavery though inwardly he had disdain for the institution, going on record as saying that slavery was ‘founded on both injustice and bad policy” (Freedman pg 46). When Lincoln’s term in congress was over, he took a break from politics and spent the next five years practicing law. It wasn’t until around 1855 when the slavery issue was back at the forefront of the political scene that Lincoln decided to jump back into politics with a vengeance. He disagreed strongly with the Kansas –Nebraska Act proposed by Stephen Douglas. The Kansas –Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise which had kept slavery at bay in some of the new territories and once again opened them to slavery. Lincoln went on a mission, giving speeches across Illinois. After Congress made the decision in the Dred Scott case, that slaves had no rights under the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln set about to study and publically refute Congresses’ ruling. In Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln gave a speech arguing against the Dred Scott decision, where he stated that when the Founding Fathers said that all men were entitled to equal rights, “This they said, and this they meant” (Freedman pg 53). In 1858 Lincoln challenged Stephen Douglas to a dual, of words and ideas and convictions, they ended up engaging in seven separate debates. Douglas argued for the spread of slavery and Lincoln against it. Lincoln said, “Slavery is an unqualified evil to the negro, to the white man, to the soil, and to the state.”
By 1860 Lincoln had transferred his allegiance from the dying Whig party to the Republican Party. He became the Republican candidate for president. Lincoln won the presidency even though he was not on the Southern Ballot. Southern leaders called Lincoln a “black Republican” (Freedman pg 65) and soon after, Lincoln was announced as president, the United States was standing on the brink of Southern succession. Lincoln did all within his power to assure the Southern States but they would have none of it and before long, by the hand of the South, the nation had broken out into a civil war.
Lincoln as President
Lincoln was uniquely suited for this fragile time in our countries history. Whether it was his deep thinking, his humility, his compassion or his belief not only in justice towards all men but his deep desire to see this nation remain one nation, it is difficult to imagine anyone else taking up the leadership of this Country with such grace at a time when a strong hand could have blown the whole nation apart.
In the beginning of the civil war, Lincoln had to deal with the problem of impudent Generals. Lincoln was no military man himself, and suffered much public criticism for the battles that were blundered due to poor military leadership. As the war continued Lincoln began to study military strategy and became more actively involved in the war instead of trusting in his Generals, who one after another had largely proven themselves unfit for the task at hand. He rose to this challenge as he had risen to those placed before him previously in life, not with perfection but with persistence and motivation. He even personally planned strategies and directed tactical field maneuvers. (Freedman pg 79)
Amidst the tragedy, turmoil and stress of the war, Lincoln suffered what was probably the greatest personal loss of his life time, the death of his son William. Willie he said, “was too good for this earth…it is hard to have him die.” (Freedman pg 81)
During his presidency, Lincoln engaged in long debates with an outspoken Black abolitionist by the name of Fredrick Douglas. Lincoln began to think more seriously about how to handle the issue of slavery. He tried compromises that proposed a more gradual break with the institution of slavery with states like Kentucky, but they would have none of it. Finally, Lincoln made a bold move. Slavery had started the war, and it would end with the war. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation; it stated that all the slaves in the rebel states would be free by Jan. 1, 1863 if the states did not return to the union (Freedman pg 86). This had the benefit of not only destroying slavery in the U.S., but it also freed blacks who were chomping at the bit to join the union army and fight for their own freedom. Lincoln received public ridicule for this decisive move, but he stood his ground and refused to back down.
One of the major turning points of the war was the appointment of Ulysses S. Grant to the position of General in Chief of all union armies. Finally, in Ulysses Grant, Lincoln found a general that was willing to fight and press the battle to the enemy relentlessly. Together they worked out battle plans that would assault the confederates from every angle. The blood shed increased dramatically with this approach but it eventually proved successful, though at the cost of many lives. On April 9, 1865 the war was finally over, General Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in a face to face meeting at a court house in Virginia.
After the war was over, the president urged the nation to graciously accept the south back into the union. He refused to gloat over the victory, providing an example for Americans every where to unite peaceably as a nation once again. When news of the union victory reached the White House, he requested that the band play “Dixie”, a famous and beloved song in the south, it was a statement to the gathering crowd. Abraham Lincoln endowed with tremendous strength of character, in a time of great national turmoil, and personal anguish, persevered, allowing these qualities to rise to the surface like precious metal in a refiner’s fire, to the unification of this country, freeing us once and for all from the scourge of human slavery.
Works Cited
Freedman, Russell. Lincoln a photobiography. New York, N.Y: Clarion Books, 1987.
Jacobs, William Jay. Lincoln. New York: Scribner's, Collier Macmillan Canada, Maxwell Macmillan International Pub. Group, 1991.
