Malcuit 1

Makayla Malcuit
POLS 1100
October 14, 2015
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He was
born in Kentucky and lived what we would consider today a rough childhood.
He lost his mother at age 10 and his younger brother also died as an infant.
He then moved to Indiana and his father then remarried, where now at this
time it was important for him to receive a sort of education. When Lincoln
was 22 he set out on his own, and at age 24 he became a member of the
Illinois Legislature. He then decided to make a career in law by following
around the courts, where he was able to make a good living at a young age.
On November 4, 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd. They had four children
together, but only one survived to adulthood, Robert Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln served a single term in the U.S. House of
Representatives from 1847 to 1849. His foray into national politics seemed to
be as unremarkable as it was brief (Biography.com). This is when Lincoln
began to emerge into politics, at this time he only served one term, then
went back into law. Although, it was during that term he served where he
began making his concerns about slavery known. In 1858, Lincoln ran for
Senator, though he lost in a close run against Stephen A. Douglas. During
that election he gained attention from the Republican Party and then was
nominated for president in 1860. Abraham Lincoln became the president of

Malcuit 2

the United States in 1861; he beating out many tough rivals. Lincoln was
elected president in the same year the civil war began, where he was
expected to make an impact due to his views on slavery and improving the
national organization.
January 1, 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The
proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious
states "are, and henceforward shall be free." (Archives.com) Though it did
not end all slavery across the nation, it only applied to the states that
withdrew from the Union. The proclamation also stated that black men could
now serve in the Union Army and Navy. From this, people of the Union began
to find freedom and were able to transform the character of the Civil war. In
which, at that time had been three years in and people had been losing
hope. The original copy of this prestigious document can be found in
Washington D.C.
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on
this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to
the proposition that all men are created equal.
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

Malcuit 3

those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not
consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task
remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have
a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863
(Roy)
This famous speech, known as the Gettysburg Address, was spoken by
Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. It is classified as his best and most
memorable speech. This speech was given in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to
dedicate a cemetery for all the deaths in the Civil War. He ensured the

Malcuit 4

people with his speech that no one will ever forget those who fought and
died for our country. Abraham was able to help sane the people after the
tremendous death toll during the ongoing Civil War.
Lincoln was re-elected president in 1864 where he indicated an end for
the Civil War and spoke his plan for peace. His second inaugural speech was
also one to be remembered forever. The famous speech can be found
engraved on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. One of
my personal favorite quotes actually comes from this speech and to me was
some of his best words. "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "(Freidel) As the
end of the Civil War was approaching, Lincoln came out with this speech to
advise the nation not to have hate. They needed to come together as one
as they recovered from this deadly war. Though this quote has continued on
to have a more broad meaning and just has generally stated we need to be
kind and care for others.

Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Malcuit 5

On April 14, 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated at Fords

Theater in Washington D.C. A famous actor by the name of John Wilkes
Booth shot Lincoln from behind in the back of the head. Lincoln was taken
from the theater to a Petersen House across the street and laid in a coma
for nine hours before dying the next morning.(Biography.com) Booth
thought by killing Lincoln he was standing up for those in the South. Really
all it did was make the nation lose hope for regaining peace. Lincoln is
buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

Lincoln Tombstone in Springfield, Illinois

References
Freidel, Frank. "Abraham Lincoln." The White House. The White House, 2006.
Web. 06 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/abrahamlincoln>.

Basler, Roy P. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln." The Gettysburg

Address by Abraham
Lincoln. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.

Malcuit 6

<http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm>.

Biography.com. "Abraham Lincoln Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks

Television, n.d. Web. 06 Oct.
2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/abraham-lincoln9382540#civil-war>.

Archives.com. "Emancipation_Proclamation." National Archives and Records

Administration.
National Archives and Records Administration, 2015. Web. 07 Oct.
2015.

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_procla
mation/>.