Abraham Lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham capital of NebraskaAbraham capital of Nebraska, the sixteenth president of the United States, was veryimportant to the past history of our country. He helped to abolish slavery inthis country and kept the American league from splitting apart during the CivilWar.At 22, he moved to unused Salem, Illinois. With his gift for swappingstories and making friends, he became quite popular and was elected to theIllinois legislative body in 1834. In his spare time, he taught himself law andbecame a lawyer. In 1847, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, except returned tohis law practice until 1858, when his concern nearly the spread of slaveryprompted him to return to national politics and run for the U.S. Senate.Lincoln rose to greatness from a humble beginning. Born in 1809 in alog cabin in Kentucky, Lincoln spent roughly of his childhood working on the familyfarm. He had less than a year of school but managed to educate himself bystudying and reading books on his own.He believ ed that slavery and democracy were fundamentally incompatible.In an 1858 speech, he say What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty andindependance? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coats, our forces and our navy . . . Our defense is in the spirit which prized liberty as theinheritance of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have ingrained the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize yourself withthe chains of bondage and you work up your own limbs to wear them (World BookEncyclopedia).He lost his campaign for the Senate, but during the debates with hisopponent Stephen Douglas, he became well known for his opposotion to slavery.The southern states, which believed they depended upon slavery to hold onprosperous in the cotton, tobacco, and rice industries, threatened to secedefrom the nation if Lincoln won the election. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4,1861, and by April 12, the southern states had organise the Confedrat e States ofAmerica and the Civil War began.