Chiedu osakwe biography of abraham lincoln

His eloquent support of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve. Inhe issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves across the Confederacy. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth inat age 56, as the country was slowly beginning to reunify following the war.

Thomas was a strong and determined pioneer who found a moderate level of prosperity and was well respected in the community. When Lincoln was 9 years old, his year-old mother died of tremetol, more commonly known as milk sickness, on October 5, The event was devastating to the young boy, who grew more alienated from his father and quietly resented the hard work placed on him at an early age.

She was a strong and affectionate woman with whom Lincoln quickly bonded. It was while growing into manhood that Lincoln received his formal education—an estimated total of 18 months—a few days or weeks at a time. Reading material was in short supply in the Indiana wilderness. Neighbors recalled how Lincoln would walk for miles to borrow a book.

In Marchthe family again migrated, this time to Macon County, Illinois. When his father moved the family again to Coles County, year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, making a living in manual labor. Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, rawboned and lanky yet muscular and physically strong. He spoke with a backwoods twang and walked with a long-striding gait.

He was known for his skill in wielding an ax and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing. Young Lincoln eventually migrated to the small community of New Salem, Illinois, where over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. It was through working with the public that Lincoln acquired social skills and honed a storytelling talent that made him popular with the locals.

Not surprising given his imposing frame, Lincoln was an excellent wrestler and had only one recorded loss—to Hank Thompson in —over a span of 12 years. A shopkeeper who employed Lincoln in New Salem, Illinois, reportedly arranged bouts for him as a way to promote the business. Lincoln notably beat a local champion named Jack Armstrong and became somewhat of a hero.

When the Black Hawk War broke out in between the United States and Native Americans, the volunteers in the area elected Lincoln to be their captain. As he was starting his political career in the early s, Lincoln decided to become a lawyer. After being admitted to the bar inhe moved to Springfield, Illinois, and began to practice in the John T.

Stuart law firm. InLincoln partnered with William Herndon in the practice of law. Although the two had different jurisprudent styles, they developed a close professional and personal relationship. So to supplement his income, he followed the court as it made its rounds on the circuit to the various county seats in Illinois. On November 4,Lincoln wed Mary Todda high-spirited, well-educated woman from a distinguished Kentucky family.

Mary and Lincoln met later at a social function and eventually did get married. Before marrying Todd, Lincoln was involved with other potential matches. Aroundhe purportedly met and became romantically involved with Anne Rutledge. Before they had a chance to be engaged, a wave of typhoid fever came over New Salem, and Anne died at age On October 16,Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence.

Rugged conditions. Heavy labor. Minimal schooling. And a mother gone too soon. The 16th U. Seward of New York and other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer with only one undistinguished congressional term under his belt. In the general election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; southern Democrats had nominated John C.

He built an exceptionally strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and Edwin M. After years of sectional tensions, the election of an antislavery northerner as the 16th president of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated as 16th U.

The Confederates fired on both the fort and the Union fleet, beginning the Civil War. Seven southern states left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, also known as the Confederacy. Four more joined later. Lincoln vowed to chiedu osakwe biography of abraham lincoln the Union even if it meant war. Fighting broke out in April Lincoln always defined the Civil War as a struggle to save the Union, but in January he nonetheless issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control.

This was an important symbolic gesture that identified the Union's struggle as a war to end slavery. In the effort to win the war, Lincoln assumed more power than any president before him, declaring martial law and suspending legal rights. He had difficulty finding effective generals to lead the Union armies until the appointment of Ulysses S Grant as overall commander in Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known.

The ballot is stronger than the bullet. While the people retain their virtue, and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government, in the short space of four years. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. What kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed but I am bound to live the best life that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right and part from him when he goes wrong. I do the very best I know howthe very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me wont amount to anything.

If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.