Hang Ma

Mrs. Engel
African American History
January 6 2014
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was born February 12,1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. The area that he
was raised in had many wild animals and was considered the frontier. His mother died when he was `0
so he was raised by his sister until she died, then his father remarried and brought a new stepmother.
He was self-taught through reading many books thoroughly and repetitively spending much time
studying to educate himself, as he only had 1 year of actual schooling.. He married Mary Todd in
1842. He had 4 children, 3 who died before reaching adulthood, Willie died at 12, Edward died of
tuberculosis, and Tad died of heart failure, these deaths caused Mary Todd to be committed to a
mental asylum and Abraham to have clinical depression, which he called the melancholy at the time.
Abraham Lincoln made many contributions to the civil war, he was the president at the time,
and made the biggest decision which greatly changed the path of American History. He was the one to
declare war by acting to preserve the Union, which was the linking of the North and the South, the
thing that divided them was mostly slavery. His decision to preserve the Union at any cost caused the
civil war, abolished slavery, and strengthened the nation afterwards. This decision would cause further
enmity between the North and the South, which does not go away until 100 years later, when racial
tension dropped after the speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
His most famous speech was the Gettysburg Address, in it, he says Now we are engaged in a
great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long

endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do this. This speech marked the beginning of the war against the
Confederacy because it was the declaration of the war against slavery to the whole country, including
the south, which was more concerned with states rights.
His contribution to abolition was the ending of it, even though there were many abolitionists at
the time, the Emancipation Proclamation was the final blow that ended slavery in the Confederacy. This
angered many Confederates and caused tensions to soar against the North until the war finally started.
No one to this day still can fully knows which side started the war, as it is a heavily debated topic to
this day. His abolitionist view may have came from his background as a child, as he belonged to a
church that prohibited slavery and lived in areas in the north where there were no slaves. He was iconic
for the ideal of republicanism, and was portrayed as the father of it. Republicans at the time were
mostly considered anti-slavery, thus, Abraham Lincoln was their most important icon.
During the war, Abraham Lincoln went to many camps and battlegrounds to raise the morale of
the soldiers. He gave passionate speeches and encouraged many to keep fighting. His idea of blacks
being kin, although not unheard of, gained in popularity throughout the nation. Lincoln learned many
military maneuvers and terms through his study of war books such as Elements of Military Art and
Science. Because of this, he was successful as a military tactician and gained fame as a reputable
general. He also appointed and led many generals and their battles
At the end of his presidency, he was heavily criticized because he did not end the war quickly
enough to appease the general population. The North had won increasingly more military battles
against the South, so the war felt like it was going to end soon enough. He still managed to bring many

republicans that were separated through political differences together, he spent many hours talking to
them to bring back a sense of unity throughout the party. Without Lincoln, the Republican party before,
were a very weak and disorganized party, they had no sense of unity as their political views were
different. Although the differences were not extreme, they did not feel a bond between their common
goals. He also rallied many northern Democrats to join his cause, bringing more and more supporters
of his politics.
His impact on African American History is heavy, he completely abolished slavery throughout
the United States, preserved the union, all while doing this as one person, but through the help of other
abolitionists of course. The way that he encouraged the Confederates to rebuild after the war heavily
affected the south. Heavy racial discrimination was often present and would be there until the late
1900s. Lincolns political ruthlessness would be a key factor in the relationships between
African-Americans and their white counterparts in the South.

Works Cited
"Abraham Lincoln." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
"Abraham Lincoln." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
"The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.

N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.