What Is Abraham Lincoln's Assassination

“In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. That is the only thing most Americans know about him. This essay will address his early childhood, law career, entering politics, presidential years, civil war, and finally his assassination. Abraham Lincoln never liked to talk about his early life. He was a poor country boy from Hodgenville, Kentucky (Freedman 14). Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a one window log cabin. When he was just a toddler they moved to another cabin on Knob creek. There he went to a small school with his sister Sarah, she was two years older. His mother Nancy, a thin woman, could not read or wright,
but memorized bible stories and prayers. In the evenings she would call everybody in the cabin to listen to stories and pray. Abraham’s father, Thomas, was a burly big-chested man. He liked to tell jokes and entertain his friends. Thomas was a carpenter. In 1816 they moved to Indiana, Lincoln was seven years old. Their new home was near Little Pigeon Creek. They had to build their own cabin so they fashioned a lean-to in the mean-time. Abraham spent his eighth birthday in the lean-to. Lincoln was getting older now so he helped his father clear land and build their new home. Abraham’s aunt and uncle arrived along with their son Dennis, he was their adopted son. Dennis was a little bit older than Abe so he became more-or-less a big brother to him. The year after they moved in with the Lincoln’s, Abraham’s aunt and uncle died from “milk sickness”. Shortly after his mother died.
Abraham’s sister took over her mother’s duties, such as cleaning and cooking. Dennis, which was of age now went back to Kentucky and found himself a wife. Her name was Sarah Bush Johnston. They had three children. Abraham was growing fast and worked for his farther for $0.25 a day. Abraham was in and out of school, he mostly educated himself through books and newspapers. He enjoyed reading rhymes and poetry. After he was about twelve years old, Abraham always had a book in his hand. By age 16, he was six foot tall. He was very skinny, but strong. Abraham was a good runner, and was very good at wrestling. Abraham was already becoming a good public speaker. At age seventeen Abraham left for a few months to be a ferryman’s helper on the Ohio River.
At age eighteen his sister Sarah dies from giving birth to her first child. That spring he was hired by James gentry to help his son Allen on a 1,200 mile flatboat voyage down the Mississippi river to New Orleans. New Orleans was the first real city they had seen. This is where he first saw the slave sales. Abraham and his friend sold all their goods and the flatboat, and returned by steamboat. On this trip he earned twenty-four dollars. Abraham thought about making his way to Illinois. The farming was good, partly due to the black soil. In 1830 the Lincoln’s sold their Indiana farm. Abraham had just turned twenty-one. He and his father built a new cabin and started over. Abraham only stayed with his family the first winter. He was offered another cargo job by Denton Offutt. Abraham agreed to make the trip with his step brother, John Johnston, and his cousin, John Hanks. When he returned from this trip he went home and said farewell to his dad and step
mom. Denton Offutt planned on opening a general store in New Salem, Illinois. There he was promised a steady job. Abraham arrived in July. He had no place to stay so he slept in the back of the store. Lincoln was getting along great with everyone in New Salem. He was friends with the intellectuals and the rowdy folks. Abraham decided to join the debating society. On his first debate he was nervous but spoke high in his reedy voice. The members of the debate team thought he was good speaker but lacked culture. He was ambitious to improve himself. Mentor Graham, the schoolmaster, lent him books, and offered to teach him English. In 1832 the store closed (Freedman 54). He was now twenty-three and decided to run for Illinois State Legislature. Abraham’s friends pushed him to run. Before he could start his campaign, there was an Indian war. The Sauk and Fox tribes had crossed the Mississippi and were looking to farm land that was taken from them. Abraham enlisted in a militia made up of his buddies. He was elected captain. They never saw hostile Indians. He was able to start his campaign two weeks before election. During his two week campaign, he chatted at barbeques and many other social events. In his precinct Abraham finished eighth out of 13 people. Since he lost the election he decided to be a merchant with William Berry as a partner. They opened a store and then Berry died, and left Lincoln with a $1,100 debt. This took fifteen years to pay off. He became the post master and began teaching himself about surveying. People came to know him as an honest and dependable man. For the first time people called him “Honest Abe”. In 1884 he ran for state legislature again.
This time he got second, but he was one of four men that got accepted into the Illinois House of Representatives from Sogamon County. He was twenty-eight years old when he moved to Springfield. There he met Joshua Speed. Abraham moved in with him atop a general store. He then met a man named Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas was a Whig, which favored a strong government. They became immediate rivals. Lincoln won a third and fourth term in the house he was now thirty years old. By this time Lincoln had found a girl and fell in love. Her name was Mary Ann Todd. She was the daughter of a wealthy Kentucky banker. In the winter of 1840 they were engaged. On November 4, 1842, they got married. Their first kid, a boy, was named Robert Todd. They then had three more kids, Eddie in 1846, Willie in 1850, and Thomas or Tad, in 1853. In 1846 Lincoln was elected to the U.S House of Representatives. He took his seat in congress in 1847. He only earned three dollars when in session, so he still needed a job. John Todd Stuart wanted Abe to go into law. So he did. Abe studied for three years before passing the exam. He accepted a job position as junior partner in Stuart’s Springfield Law Office. He only stayed for one, two year term, then went back to full time law office. When the Dred Scott case came around he put together an argument for it. Abe spoke in Springfield, and talked about the “plain unmistakable language” of the Declaration of
Independence. “All men have equal rights, this they said, this they meant”. By now Abe was the leading anti-slavery spokesman in Illinois. Abraham switched his political allegiance. He went from a Whig to a Republican. The Republican Party formed in 1854 to oppose slavery. Abraham was now out to get Stephen Douglas’s senate seat. Abe and Douglas had been rivals for twenty years now. Douglas’s political career was pretty high, he was the judge of Illinois Supreme Court, congressman & senator, and leader of the Democratic Party. Lincoln’s career fluttered after his Solitary term in congress. In 1858 he won his nomination as a Republican. His campaign started on a hot evening in June, in front of 1,200 delegates. This was at the State Republican Convention in Springfield.