Abraham Lincoln

This is a story about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, who led the United States through the American Civil War. He wrote the Emancipation Proclamation that declared free slaves in 10 states. He stated that "all men are created equal" and gave the nation a new birth of freedom.

I came from humble beginnings to achieve all that I achieved while I was in office. I moved around quite a bit growing up and I loved to learn new things and read books.

Where was I born?

a single-room log cabin in Kentucky.

Who were my parents?

Thomas Lincoln

Nancy Hanks Lincoln

What happened next?

My dad lost everything when I was young, so we had to move to Indiana, which was hard for our family. Then, when I was nine years old, my mom passed away and my sister took care of me.

Like I said earlier, I loved to read books and I loved to learn, but I never really received a proper education. I like to say that I was a self-educated man for the most part.

When my family moved to Illinois, I set off on my own and worked many jobs. I eventually got myself into politics and was in the Illinois Legislature when I was 25.

Fun fact, I grew to be 6'4" and I always wore a top hat!

I worked as a Congressman for one term in 1845 and I also studied Law. I gained national recognition through the next decade and the next thing I knew, I was elected President of the United States in 1860.

Before I even took office as President, seven southern states seceded because they did not agree with my beliefs and policies. These seven states became a new country called the Confederacy.

The American Civil War began shortly after I took office as President. This war began on April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. I was determined to preserve the "union" of the states, so I declared that a northern army go and defeat the south.

On January 1, 1863, I issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This meant that the slaves had to be freed in the Confederate States.

This Proclamation took a while to get through, but this decision of mine eventually led to the 13th Amendment, which freed all slaves in the United States.

Later that year I delivered the Gettysburg Address at one of the bloodiest battlefields in the U.S. Civil War, the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

In the Gettysburg Address, I redefined what the cause of the Civil War was. It was not just to reunify the Union and become one nation again, the goal was to also get rid of slavery and fight for equality of all men.

Here are some things that stuck out from the Gettysburg Address:

"all men are created equal"

the definition of the war was to be dedicated to the principles from 1776

 "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Civil War = a new birth of freedom in the nation

Finally the American Civil War was over. What a big military and moral crises that was... at least we preserved the Union!