Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln as Wartime Leaders

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as Leaders during the Civil War There are both similarities and differences between President Abraham Lincoln, leader of the Union, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, as leaders during the conflict of the Civil War. These two war heroes lived parallel lives at birth. Both native Kentuckians, Abraham Lincoln was born February 12th, 1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky and Jefferson Davis was born June 3rd, 1808 in Christian County, Kentucky. Both Lincoln and Davis were born in a log cabin and each moved away from Kentucky at a young age and grew up in a different state. Lincoln moved to Indiana when he was seven and grew up on the edge of a frontier. Davis also moved away from Kentucky as a small child and grew up in Mississippi. Early in life, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis followed similar paths however their educational experiences were very different. Lincoln had little formal teaching; however he read avidly having taught himself. Jefferson Davis, on the contrary, had a very good formal education. He attended Transylvania University in Kentucky until he was sixteen when President Monroe appointed him to a military school. He successfully graduated from West Point military academy as a Second Lieutenant. Davis’ first active service was in the United States Army in the Northwest which lasted for six years. He was involved in several battles in the Black Hawk War of 1832 as leader of his regiment. Correspondingly, Lincoln got into the military by enlisting as a militia captain during the Black Hawk War defending the state of Illinois. As the militia captain, Lincoln made an honorable and respected name for himself however he did not see any combat during his brief time in the Illinois militia. Although they got their starts in military service very differently, Lincoln and Davis were both directly involved in the military before they were pulled into the political scene.
Politically, Lincoln found a