I.

Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln

Childhood and education
Abraham Lincoln is probably the most eminent president who ever lived.He was born
on February 12,1809, the second child to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Lincoln,in a one-
room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm.
When Lincoln was nine,his 34-year-old mother died of milk sickness.
Soon after, his father married Sarah Bush Johnston, with whom Lincoln became very
close and whom he called "Mother."Lincoln regretted his father's lack of education,and
did not like the hard labor associated with frontier life
The Lincoln family decided to move to Illinois to avoid further contamination by this
epidemic.
Lincoln's formal education consisted of 18 months of classes from several itinerant
teachers;he was mostly self-educated and was an avid reader.His family and neighbors
considered him to be lazy.Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing out of an aversion to
killing animals.
Marriage and family
Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, by 1835, they were in a
relationship but not formally engaged.
In 1840,Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd and they married on November
4,1842.
In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near Lincoln's law office
Robert was the only child of the Lincolns to live past the age of 18.Edward Lincoln
died on February 1,1850,in Springfield..
The death of their sons had profound effects on both parents.
Abraham Lincoln suffered from "melancholy," a condition which now may be
referred to as clinical depression
Early career and military service
In 1832,at age 23,Lincoln began his political career with a campaign for the Illinois
General Assembly.He had attained local popularity
.Before the election,he served briefly as a captain in the Illinois militia during the
Black Hawk War,although he never saw combat.
Lincoln returned from the militia and was able to campaign for the August 6
election.In 1834,he won election to the state legislature after a bipartisan campaign, He
then decided to become a lawyer,
Lincoln became an able and successful lawyer with a reputation as a formidable
adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments
Early national politics
In 1846, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,where he served
one two-year term.
On February 27,1860, New York party leaders invited Lincoln to give a speech at
Cooper Union to a group of powerful Republicans.
Lincoln insisted the moral foundation of the Republicans required opposition to
slavery,and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between the right and the
wrong.”.
Lincoln was nominated for the presidency by the Republican Party with Hannibal
Hamlin as his running mate.
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the sixteenth president of the United
States,He was the first Republican president.
Lincoln maintained that his power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution.
He expected the eventual extinction of slavery would result from preventing its
expansion into new U.S. territory.
In September 1862,Lincoln issued the Emancipation ProclamationThis freed the
slaves in all Southern states.During the Civil War,Lincoln curbed civil liberties including
suspending the writ of habeas corpus.In the end,the war was the most costly in American
history.Slavery was forever ended with the passage of the 13thamendment.
Assasination
On April 14,1865,Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre
in Washington ,D.C.Actor John Booth shot him in the back of the head bejore jumping
onto the stage and escaping to Maryland.Lincoln dies on April 15,1865.
Legacy and memorials
Lincoln's death made the President a national martyr. He is regarded by the public and
historians in numerous polls as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history.
Lincoln's name and image appear in numerous places(Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C, Lincoln's sculpture on Mount Rushmore)
Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a national holiday, but it was
observed by 30 states. In 1971, Presidents Day became a national holiday, combining
Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays and replacing most states' celebration of his
birthday.
Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in 10 states