Birth:
February 12, 1809, Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky
Death:
April 15, 1865, He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln was actually shot on April 14th.
Early Influences:
- Parents were Baptists and belonged to an anti-slavery faction of the church
- Grew up on farms which made him used to hard work
- Mother died in 1818 and his father remarried
- Elected captain of a volunteer company in the Black Hawk War
Education:
- Had about one year of formal schooling in reading, writing and ciphering
- Mostly self-educated
- Became a lawyer in 1836
Major Accomplishments:
- Elected to the Illinois legislature in 1834 as a Whig
- Elected a U.S. House of Representative for one term from 1847-9
- Campaigned for a Senate seat in 1858 leading to the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates
- Elected the sixteenth President of the United States
- Commander-in-Chief during the Civil War, arguably the most trying time in American history
Significance:
- Many believe he is the greatest U.S. President because he held the nation together
- He will forever be linked with the ending of slavery
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Gettysburg Address, 1863
- Second Inaugural Address, 1865
Contemporaries:
