The Legacy Of Abraham Lincoln - 1044 Words

Abraham Lincoln was a great president and did a lot of great things for this country that have impacted us to this day. He was born on February 12, 1809. Growing up on the farms of Kentucky and Indiana. As a kid he always wanted to have a great education and had a passion for books. His mom encouraged him to pursue his dreams to learn but his dad was against it. His mom died when he was nine and his stepmom continued what his mom did and encouraged him to pursue with his education. Lincoln moved to New Salem he worked as a shopkeeper and postmaster. He soon was involved with politics and was a supporters of the Whig Party. Lincoln was not the only one that opposed the spread of slavery to the territories. Henry Clay and Daniel†¦show more content†¦He was a congressman and unpopular in Illinois because of his strong stance with the war with Mexico. He returned to Springfield in 1849. Douglas was a leading Democrat in congress and pushed through the passage of the Ka nsas-Nebraska Act (1854). This act declared that voters of each territory had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave free. On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went in from of a large crowd in Peoria, denouncing slavery and it s extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence. In March 1861 he was inaugurated in seven southern sates and seeded into Confederate States of America after being Union. Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply South Carolina s Fort Sumter in April. The Confederates fired on the Union and the fort. This was the beginning of the Civil War. After a defeat in the battle of Bull Run, Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops. He learned quickly about the war in the beginning and had better strategies and tactics. He had a better understanding on commanders. Union victory of Antietam on September 22, 1862 made the president very confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from union to abolishing slavery. On January 1, 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This stated that if you were held as a slave henceforward shall be free.