Biography

Abraham Lincoln (English Abraham Lincoln [ˈeɪbrəhæm ˈlɪŋkən]) (February 12, 1809, Hodgenville, Kentucky - April 15, 1865, Washington) - American statesman, 16th President of the United States (1861-1865) and the first of the Republican party, liberator of American slaves, national hero of the American people. Included in the list of the 100 most studied personalities in history.

He grew up in the family of a poor farmer. From an early age he was engaged in physical labor. Due to the difficult financial situation of his family, he attended school for no more than a year, but managed to learn to read and write and fell in love with books. Having become an adult, he began an independent life, educated himself, passed exams and received permission to practice law. During the Indian Uprising in Illinois, he joined the militia and was elected captain, but did not take part in the fighting. He was also a member of the Illinois Legislative Assembly, the House of Representatives of the US Congress, in which he opposed the Mexican-American War. In 1858 he became a candidate for US senator, but lost the election.

As an opponent of the expansion of slavery into new territories, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the Republican Party, was chosen as its presidential candidate and won the elections of 1860. His election signaled the secession of the southern states and the emergence of the Confederacy. In his inaugural speech he called for the reunification of the country, but was unable to prevent conflict.

Lincoln personally directed the military effort that led to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War of 1861-1865. His presidency led to the strengthening of executive power and the abolition of slavery in the United States. Lincoln included his opponents in the government and was able to bring them to work towards a common goal. The President kept Great Britain and other European countries from intervention throughout the war. During his presidency, a transcontinental railway was built Railway, the Homestead Act was adopted, which resolved the agrarian question. Lincoln was an outstanding speaker, his speeches inspired the northerners and are a bright legacy to this day. At the end of the war, he proposed a plan for moderate Reconstruction, associated with national harmony and renunciation of revenge. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was mortally wounded in a theater, becoming the first US president to be assassinated. According to conventional wisdom and social polls, he remains one of America's best and most beloved presidents, although he was subject to severe criticism during his presidency.

Childhood

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, into a family of uneducated farmers - Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, who lived in a small log cabin on the Sinking Spring farm. in Gardin County, Kentucky. His paternal grandfather Abraham, for whom the boy was later named, moved his family from Virginia to Kentucky, where he was ambushed and killed during a raid against Indians in 1786. Lincoln's mother, Nancy, was born in West Virginia. Together with her mother, she moved to Kentucky, where she met Thomas Lincoln, a respected and wealthy citizen of Kentucky. By the time Abraham was born to them, Thomas owned two farms totaling about 500 hectares, several buildings in the city, and a large number of livestock and horses. He was one of the richest men in the area. However, in 1816, Thomas loses all his lands in court cases due to a legal error in property rights.

The family moves north to Indiana to explore new free lands. Lincoln later noted that the move was largely due to legal problems with the land, but partly due to the situation with slavery in the South. At age nine, Abraham lost his mother, then his older sister, Sarah, took on the responsibility of caring for him until their father remarried in 1819 to the widow Sarah Bush Johnston.

The stepmother, who had three children from her first marriage, quickly became close to young Lincoln, and in the end he even began to call her “mom.” Until he was ten years old, Abraham did not love homework, accompanying the borderline lifestyle. Some in his family, as well as among his neighbors, even considered him lazy for a time. Later he began to willingly do everything that was required of him. Young Lincoln participated in field work, and, as he grew older, he worked in a variety of ways - at the post office, as a lumberjack, as a land surveyor and as a boatman. He was especially good at chopping wood. Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing because of his moral convictions. Lincoln also agreed to the customary obligation of a son to give his father all earnings from work outside the home until age 21.

At the same time, Lincoln became increasingly alienated from his father, in particular due to the latter's lack of education. Abraham became the first in the family to learn to write and count, although, according to his own admission, he attended school for no more than a year because of the need to help the family. Since childhood, he was addicted to books, and carried his love for them throughout his life. Dennis, his childhood friend, later wrote:

“After Abe was 12 years old, there was never a time when I saw him without a book in his hands... At night in the hut, he would knock over a chair, block the light with it, sit on his edge and read. It was just weird that a guy could read that much.”

As a child, Lincoln read the Bible, Robinson Crusoe, The History of George Washington, and Aesop's fables. In addition, he helped his neighbors write letters, thus honing their grammar and style. Sometimes he even walked 30 miles to court to hear lawyers speak.

Youth

In 1830, Abraham Lincoln's family moved again. Lincoln, having become an adult, decides to start an independent life. He found temporary work that took him down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where Lincoln visited a slave market and maintained his lifelong dislike of slavery. He soon settled in the village of New Salem, Illinois. There he devoted all his free hours to self-education and classes with a local school teacher. At night, the future president read books by the light of a torch.

In 1832, Lincoln ran for a seat in the Illinois Legislature but was defeated. After this, he began to systematically study science. Lincoln initially wanted to become a blacksmith, but after meeting a justice of the peace, he took up law. At the same time, he and his companion tried to make money in a trading store, but things were not going well. Sandburg, author of a popular biography of the president, writes:

“...Lincoln did what he read and dreamed. He had nothing to do, and he could sit for days with his thoughts, no one would interrupt him. Beneath this outward immobility, mental and moral maturation took place, slowly and steadily.”

In 1832, an uprising of Indians broke out in Illinois, who did not want to leave their native places and move west, across the Mississippi River. Lincoln joined the militia and was elected captain, but did not take part in the fighting. In 1833, Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem. Thanks to this, he received more free time, which he devoted to studies. New position allowed him to read political newspapers before departure.

At the end of 1833, Lincoln received the position of surveyor. Having agreed to this work, he spent six weeks intensively studying Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying and Flint's Course in Geometry, Trigonometry and Topography.

During his years living in New Salem, Lincoln often had to borrow money. His habit of repaying his debts in full earned him one of his most famous nicknames - “Honest Abe.”

Beginning of a career as a politician and lawyer

In 1835 (at age 26), Lincoln was elected to the Illinois State Legislature, where he joined the Whigs. When Lincoln entered the political arena, Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Lincoln welcomed his reliance on the people in political actions, but did not approve of the policy of the federal center refusing to regulate the economic life of the states. After the session of the Assembly, he took up the study of law even more decisively than before. Having studied on his own, Lincoln passed the bar exam in 1836. That same year, in the Legislative Assembly, Lincoln managed to achieve the transfer of the state capital from Vandaleia to Springfield, where he moved in 1837. There, together with William Butler, he united in the firm “Stuart and Lincoln”. The young legislator and lawyer quickly gained authority thanks to his oratorical abilities and impeccable reputation. He often refused to take fees from insolvent citizens whom he defended in court; traveled to different parts of the state to help people resolve litigation. After the assassination of an abolitionist newspaper publisher in 1837, Lincoln gave his first principled speech to the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, emphasizing the values ​​of democracy, the Constitution, and the legacy of the Founding Fathers.

Family

In 1840, Lincoln met Mary Todd, a girl from Kentucky (English Mary Todd, 1818-1882) and on November 4, 1842 they married. Mary gave birth to four sons, of whom only the eldest, Robert Lincoln, lived long enough. Edward Lincoln was born March 10, 1846 and died February 1, 1850 in Springfield. William Lincoln was born December 21, 1850 and died February 20, 1862 in Washington, during his father's presidency. Thomas Lincoln was born April 4, 1853, died July 16, 1871 in Chicago.

Political career before presidency

In 1846, Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives (1847-1849) from the Whig Party. In Washington, not being a particularly influential figure, he, however, actively opposed the actions of President Polk in the Mexican-American War, considering it unjustified aggression on the part of the United States. Nevertheless, Lincoln voted for the Congress to allocate funds for the army, for the material support of disabled soldiers, wives, and lost husbands, and also supported the demand for women's voting rights. Lincoln sympathized with the abolitionists and was an opponent of slavery, but did not recognize extreme measures and advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves, since he put the integrity of the Union above their freedom.

Popular opposition to the Mexican-American War damaged Lincoln's reputation in his home state, and he decided to forgo re-election to the House of Representatives. In 1849, Lincoln was notified that he had been appointed secretary of the then-Oregon Territory. Accepting the offer would have meant the end of his career at booming Illinois, so he declined the assignment. Lincoln left political activity and in subsequent years he practiced law, became one of the leading lawyers in the state, and was legal counsel for the Illinois Central railroad. During his 23-year legal career, Lincoln was involved in 5,100 cases (excluding unreported cases), and he and his partners appeared before the State Supreme Court more than 400 times.

In 1856, like many former Whigs, he joined the anti-slavery Republican Party created in 1854, and in 1858 he was nominated as a candidate for a seat in the US Senate. His opponent in the election was Democrat Stephen Douglas. The debate between Lincoln and Douglas, during which the issue of slavery was discussed, became widely known (some called this debate a dispute between the “little giant” (S. Douglas) and the “big sucker” (A. Lincoln)). Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but opposed slavery on moral grounds. He saw slavery as a necessary evil in the agrarian economy of the South. Trying to challenge the arguments of Douglas, who accused his opponent of radicalism, Lincoln assured that he was not in favor of providing blacks with political and civil rights and interracial marriages, because in his opinion physical difference between the white and black races, and the superiority of the former will never allow “them to coexist in conditions of social and political equality.” The issue of slavery, in his opinion, was within the competence of individual states and the federal government had no constitutional right to interfere in this problem. At the same time, Lincoln firmly opposed the spread of slavery to new territories, which undermined the foundations of slavery, because its extensive nature required expansion into the undeveloped lands of the West. Stephen Douglas won the election, but Lincoln’s anti-slavery speech “A House Divided,” in which he substantiated the impossibility of the country’s continued existence in a state of “half-slavery and half-freedom,” spread widely in the United States, creating its author’s reputation as an anti-slavery fighter.

In October 1859, John Brown's rebellion broke out in the South, seizing the government arsenal and planning to start a slave rebellion in the South. The detachment was blocked by troops and destroyed. Lincoln condemned Brown's actions as an attempt to forcefully resolve the issue of slavery.

Presidential elections and inauguration

Moderate positions on the issue of slavery determined the election of Lincoln as a compromise presidential candidate from the Republican Party in the elections of 1860. The southern states threatened to secede from the Union if the Republicans won. Both parties, Democratic and Republican, fought over the values ​​that the candidates represented. Americans associated Lincoln's personality with hard work, honesty, and social mobility. Coming from the people, he was a “self-made” man. On November 6, 1860, participation in elections exceeded 80% of the population for the first time. Lincoln, largely thanks to the split in the Democratic Party, which nominated two candidates, managed to get ahead of his rivals in the elections and become President of the United States and the first from his new party. Lincoln won the election mainly due to the support of the North. In nine southern states, Lincoln's name did not appear on the ballot at all, and he managed to win only 2 out of 996 counties.

Division of the Union and Lincoln's Inauguration

Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery, and his election victory further divided the American people. Even before his inauguration, 7 southern states, at the initiative of South Carolina, announced their secession from the United States. The Upper South (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal, but soon joined the rebellion. Incumbent President James Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize secession. In February 1861, the Constitutional Convention in Montgomery (Alabama) proclaimed the creation of the Confederate States of America, and Jefferson Davis was elected president, who took the oath of office that same month. Richmond became the capital of the state.

Lincoln evaded would-be assassins in Baltimore and arrived in Washington on February 23, 1861, on a special train. During his inauguration on March 4, the capital was filled with troops to ensure order. In his speech, Lincoln said:

I believe that, from the point of view of universal law and the Constitution, the union of these states is eternal. Eternity, even if not expressly expressed, is implied in the Fundamental Law of all state forms board. It is safe to say that no system of government as such has ever had in its Basic Law a provision for the termination of its own existence...

And again, if the United States is not a system of government in the proper sense of the word, but an association of States founded merely by compact, can it, as a compact, be peaceably dissolved by fewer parties than were at its creation? One party to the contract can violate it, that is, break it, but isn’t everyone’s consent required to legally cancel it? Based on these general principles, we come to the statement that from a legal point of view the Union is eternal, and this is confirmed by the history of the Union itself. ...It follows from this that none of the states has the right to strictly own initiative leave the Union, that decisions and resolutions adopted for this purpose do not have legal force and acts of violence committed within any State (or States) directed against the Government of the United States shall assume, as the case may be, an insurrectionary or revolutionary character.

In his speech, Lincoln also stated that he had “no intention of interfering, directly or indirectly, with the institution of slavery in those States where it exists”: “I believe that I have no legal right to do so, and I am not inclined to do so.” . Lincoln called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and restoration of the unity of the United States. However, the exit had already been completed and the Confederation was intensively preparing for military action. The overwhelming majority of representatives of the southern states in the US Congress left it and went over to the side of the South.

After taking office, Lincoln used a protectionist system of distributing posts. Already in the spring of 1861, 80% of the posts controlled by Democrats were occupied by Republicans. When forming the government, Lincoln included his opponents in it: the post of US Secretary of State was William Seward, Secretary of Justice - Edward Bates, Secretary of the Treasury - Salmon Chase.

American Civil War

Beginning of the war (1861-1862)
The fighting began on April 12, 1861, with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, which was forced to surrender after 34 hours of shelling. In response, Lincoln declared the Southern states in a state of rebellion, ordered a naval blockade of the Confederacy, drafted 75,000 volunteers into the army, and later introduced conscription. Even before Lincoln’s inauguration, a lot of weapons and ammunition were brought to the south, and seizures of federal arsenals and warehouses were organized. The most combat-ready units were located here, which were replenished with hundreds of officers who left the federal army. The beginning of the Civil War was unsuccessful for the North. Southerners, prepared for combat, were in a hurry to defeat the Union forces before the North mobilized its superior military and economic potential. Heavily criticized for military defeats and economic difficulties, Lincoln, despite his lack of military experience, took decisive steps to form a combat-ready army, not even stopping at restricting civil liberties or spending funds not yet approved in the Congressional budget. In the first major battle in Virginia, railway station Manassas On July 21, 1861, the Federal army was defeated. On November 1, Lincoln appointed J.B. McLellan, who avoided active action, as commander in chief. On October 21, its units were defeated near Washington. On November 8, 1861, the British steamer Trent was captured, carrying southern ambassadors. This sparked the Affair of Trent and nearly led to war against Great Britain.

In February-March 1862, General Ulysses Grant managed to oust the southerners from Tennessee and Kentucky. By the summer, Missouri was liberated, and Grant's troops entered the northern regions of Mississippi and Alabama. As a result of the landing operation on April 25, 1862, New Orleans was captured. McClellan was removed by Lincoln from his post as commander-in-chief and placed at the head of one of the armies whose task was to capture Richmond. McLellan chose defensive action instead of offensive action. On August 29-30, the Northerners were defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run, after which Lincoln called up 500,000 men. On September 7, at Antietam Creek, the South's 40,000-man army was attacked by McClellan's 70,000-man army, which defeated the Confederates. The flooding of the Potomac River cut off Lee's route of retreat, but McClellan, despite Lincoln's orders, abandoned the offensive and missed the opportunity to complete the defeat of the southerners.

After the Battle of Antietam, Great Britain and France refused to enter the war and recognize the Confederacy. During the war, Russia maintained friendly relations with the United States. The Russian squadron visited San Francisco and New York in 1863-1864.

The year 1862 was also marked by the first battle of armored ships in history, which took place on March 9 off the coast of Virginia. The 1862 campaign ended with the defeat of the northerners at Friedericksberg on December 13.

Political process

The difficult situation of the federal army caused discontent among the population. Lincoln was under pressure from the Republican Party, which included both supporters of the immediate abolition of slavery and those advocating the gradual emancipation of slaves. Lincoln adhered to a policy of compromise, thanks to which he was able to prevent a split in the party. He was convinced that even in wartime a political process must be carried out in the country. This made it possible to maintain freedom of speech throughout the Civil War, avoiding serious restrictions on civil liberties and a crisis in the two-party system. During Lincoln's presidency, elections were held and citizens participated in government. After the Southern attack on Fort Sumter, some members of the Democratic Party formed a “loyal opposition” that supported government policies. On August 22, 1862, in an interview with the New York Tribune, when asked why he was slow to free the slaves, Lincoln replied:

My highest object in this struggle is the preservation of the union, not the preservation or abolition of slavery. If I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing some slaves and not others. freed, I would do it. What I do in the matter of slavery and for the colored race, I do because I believe it will help preserve the union... By this I have explained here my intention, which I consider as an official duty. And I do not intend to change my often expressed personal desire that all people everywhere should be free.

Homestead

On the initiative of Abraham Lincoln, on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act was passed, according to which every citizen of the United States who had reached the age of 21 and had not fought on the side of the Confederacy could receive from the lands public fund a tract of land not exceeding 160 acres (65 hectares) after paying a $10 registration fee. The law came into force on January 1, 1863. A settler who began to cultivate the land and began to erect buildings on it received free ownership of this land after 5 years. The plot could be purchased ahead of schedule by paying $1.25 per acre. Under the Homestead Act, about 2 million homesteads were distributed in the United States, totaling about 285 million acres (115 million hectares). This law radically solved the agrarian problem, directed the development of agriculture along the farmer path, led to the settlement of previously deserted areas and provided Lincoln with the support of the broad masses of the population.

Freeing the Slaves

Failures in the war and its prolongation gradually changed Lincoln's attitude towards the issue of slavery. He came to the conclusion that the United States would either become completely free or completely slave-owning. It became clear that the main goal of the war - the restoration of the Union - was becoming unattainable without the abolition of slavery. Lincoln, who had always advocated the gradual emancipation of blacks on a compensatory basis, now believed that slavery must be abolished. Preparations for the abolition of the institute were carried out throughout 1862. On December 30, 1862, the President signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring blacks living in territories in rebellion against the United States “now and forever” free. The document gave impetus to the adoption of the XIII Amendment (1865) to the American Constitution, which completely abolished slavery in the United States. The Proclamation was rightfully criticized by Radical Republicans because it emancipated slaves in areas where the federal government did not extend authority, but it changed the nature of the Civil War, turning it into a war to abolish slavery. In addition, it forced foreign countries, including Great Britain, not to support the Confederacy. British Prime Minister Palmerston was unable to organize an intervention due to public resistance. The emancipation of the slaves made it possible to recruit black Americans into the army. By the end of the war, there were 180 thousand blacks in the federal troops.

Lincoln Assassination

Civil War ended with the surrender of the Confederate States of America on April 9, 1865. The country was about to undergo Southern Reconstruction and begin the process of integrating blacks into American society. Five days after the end of the war, on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, at the play Our American Cousin (at Ford's Theatre), pro-Southern actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the head. The next morning, Abraham Lincoln died without regaining consciousness. Millions of Americans, white and black, came to pay their last respects to their president during the two-and-a-half week journey of the funeral train from Washington to Springfield. The train was carrying two coffins: a large coffin containing the body of Abraham Lincoln and a small one containing the body of his son William, who had died three years earlier during Lincoln's presidency. Abraham and William Lincoln were buried in Springfield in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Tragic death Lincoln contributed to the creation around his name of an aura of a martyr who gave his life for the reunification of the country and the liberation of black slaves.

Results of the Presidency and Historical Significance of Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War was the bloodiest military conflict in the history of the United States and the most difficult test for American democracy. Abraham Lincoln became a central historical figure in the consciousness of the American people, a man who prevented the collapse of the United States and made a significant contribution to the formation American nation and the abolition of slavery as the main obstacle to the subsequent normal development of the country. Lincoln marked the beginning of the modernization of the South and the emancipation of slaves. He is the author of the formulation of the main goal of democracy: “A government created by the people, from the people and for the people.” During his presidency, a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific Ocean was also built, the infrastructure system was expanded, a new banking system was created, and the agrarian problem was solved. However, at the end of the war, the country faced many problems, including the unity of the nation and equalization of the rights of blacks and whites. In part, these problems still face American society. After Lincoln's assassination, the economy of the United States became the most dynamically developing economy in the world for a long time, which allowed the country to become a world leader at the beginning of the 20th century. In many ways, his personal qualities made it possible to mobilize the forces of the state and reunite the country. Lincoln adhered to strict moral principles and had a sense of humor, but was also prone to strong melancholy. To this day, Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most intellectual presidents of the United States. As a sign of the gratitude of the American people, a memorial was erected in Washington to the sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln as one of the four presidents who determined historical development United States of America.

- politician, writer, national hero, American statesman who left an unforgettable mark on the history of his country. Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United States (1861-1865).

The biography of Abraham Lincoln is amazing and varied.

Our hero was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln's date of birth is February 12, 1809. He lived only 56 years (the date of death of Abraham Lincoln is April 15, 1865).

He was born into a wealthy farming family. They owned pastures, hundreds of head of cattle, several stone houses in the city, but his father Thomas Lincoln got something wrong in the ownership documents.

Because of this legal error, the family lost everything and was forced to move from their home to develop new lands in Indiana. Then Abraham was seven years old. Further childhood of the future President Abraham Lincoln passed in poverty.

In 1818, two years later, Abraham's mother Nancy Hanks died. The father marries the widow Sarah Bush Johnston, who already had children of her own. The relationship with my stepmother was quite warm. Relations with my father gradually deteriorated.

Lincoln's father couldn't read and wanted his son to grow up to be a hardworking guy like himself. The will to knowledge pulled Abe (as he was called then) in the other direction. However, he only went to school for one year. Abraham Lincoln acquired all further knowledge through self-education, which he was always proud of. He worked during the day and read at night. This often happened to the detriment of work. But neighbors often asked him for help - he wrote letters and drafted documents, acquiring new skills and experience.

In his youth, Abe traveled down the Mississippi River, where he became an opponent of slavery. Here, in the village of New Salem, he continued his self-education.

In 1832, Abraham Lincoln ran for a seat in the Illinois Legislature. That time he was defeated.

In 1832, an uprising of Indians broke out in Illinois, who did not want to leave their native places and move west, beyond the Mississippi. Lincoln participated in the militia against the Indians and was even promoted to captain.

In 1833, Abe was appointed postmaster in the town where he lived, New Salem. Here he had a lot of free time for self-education and the opportunity to read newspapers and keep abreast of the political affairs of the country.

At the end of 1833, Lincoln received the position of surveyor and again used this chance to deeply study highly specialized knowledge in topography, geometry, and trigonometry. He worked hard on self-education.

When Lincoln lived in New Salem, he often had to borrow money. He always repaid debts meticulously and honestly, which earned him the nickname “Honest Abe.”

In 1835, at age 26, he became a member of the Illinois Legislature, becoming an opponent of the Democratic President.

In 1836, Lincoln passed the bar exam after studying the law on his own. Many kilometers away, Abraham went to the city to the courts to listen and gain practice in legal matters.

An amazing thirst for development, moving forward! Just rare person, truly, the likes of which you won’t find these days!!!

He has a good reputation and excellent oratory skills. He strengthens his impeccable reputation by providing free legal assistance to the poor.

In the same 1836, in the Legislative Assembly, Lincoln managed to achieve the transfer of the state capital from Vandaleia to Springfield.

In 1837, Lincoln moved to the state capital of Springfield.

In 1842, Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd. She bore him four sons, three of whom died in childhood. Only the eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, survived. Years of life: 1843 -1926. He was known as a lawyer and minister of war. Had three children.

In 1846, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives from the Whig Party. The Mexican-American War began. Lincoln opposes US aggression because... this will lead to aggravation of internal relations in the country, in which at this time the problem of Negro slavery is worsening.

Abraham Lincoln advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves. In his opinion, this

In 1849, Abraham retired from politics and entered the practice of law, becoming one of the leading lawyers in the state. He accepts an offer to become a lawyer for the Illinois Central railroad.

Lincoln's legal career spans 23 years.

1854 marked the founding of the Republican Party, which included former Whigs, including Abraham Lincoln. He initiated the creation of this party. He is nominated for a seat in the US Senate.

In a debate with Democratic challenger Stephen Douglas, he denounced slavery on moral grounds.

Today one could call Lincoln a racist and even a fascist, because... he considered blacks to be an inferior race. He was convinced of the impossibility of equal coexistence between blacks and whites. He also opposed the expansion of plantations into undeveloped territories, which, of course, aroused the anger of slave owners.

In 1858, Lincoln became a candidate for US Senator. Then he lost the election.

Now his name is “Uncle Abe.”

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate, won the election for President of the United States of America.

In 1861, the US Civil War began and lasted until 1865. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president signaled the start of this war, and the southern states seceded from the northern. First, without waiting for the inauguration, seven states, led by South Carolina, announced their withdrawal from the United States. Then eight more states join them.

In February 1861, in the city of Montgomery (Alabama), secessionists proclaimed the Confederate States of America, led by Jefferson Davis. The capital of the Confederacy was the city of Richmond.

Lincoln called for the reunification of the country in his inaugural address, but the conflict had already flared up. Confederates, confident in their moral and military superiority, are preparing for active hostilities.

The South had military superiority over the North because... The army of the south was led by talented generals, combat-ready units and well-motivated officers. Arsenals of weapons were replenished long before the start of the conflict. Finally, the very real hope that Great Britain would support - all this generally contributed to the victories of the southerners in the first months of the confrontation.

President Abraham Lincoln competently leads the civil war, forms a combat-ready army, and blocks the enemy from the sea. Military conscription is introduced and civil liberties are limited.

Already in February-March 1861, the scales tipped to the side of the federates. The army of the North ousts the army of the southerners, first from Kentucky and Tennessee, then from Mississippi.

Advancing with varying success, the north is pushing back the enemy.

On December 30, 1862, the President signed a piece of legislation, the Emancipation Proclamation.

Now all black slaves were declared free.

There was a turning point in the civil war: great amount blacks joined the ranks of the army of the north. The war began to have a liberation character.

Lincoln achieved the neutrality of England and France. Russian Emperor Alexander II, sympathizing with the US President, sent a squadron to New York and San Francisco.

With a strong-willed effort, old Abe managed to gather the economic and military power of the North into a fist and crush the southern slaveholders.

Lincoln understood and loved his people very much, for which grateful American citizens responded to him with universal support.

In 1864, Lincoln was re-elected to a second term.

On April 9, 1865, Confederate Commander-in-Chief Lee signed a surrender. President Jefferson Davis was arrested. The south was given over to plunder by merchants and bankers. Wanting to humiliate whites, blacks were often specially appointed to government positions, because the abolition of slavery did not at all mean an expansion of freedom and opportunities for former slaves. On long years The South was doomed to humiliation and poverty.

The merits of Abraham Lincoln are given such facts as the fact that this man was able to keep the country from collapse, solved the agrarian problem, and created a new banking system. In addition, Lincoln saved the United States from the shame of slavery, although there was hypocrisy in society towards blacks. The abolition of slavery was one of Abraham Lincoln's major democratic reforms.

If you want to succeed, continue to believe in yourself even when no one believes in you anymore.

He remained one of America's best and most beloved presidents, a liberator of American slaves, a national hero of the American people, although he was subject to severe criticism during his presidency. Outstanding biography Abraham Lincoln is proof of this.

You can read an article about Soviet fashion models Regina Zbarskaya and Marina Ivleva .

The Civil War was an epochal turning point in the history of the United States, and Abraham Lincoln, who led the affairs of the White House during these years, remains a central historical figure in the consciousness of the American people. During the crisis of the union, Lincoln's every thought and action was directed toward salvaging and once again fully demonstrating the legacy of the Founding Fathers—the values ​​and principles of the republic as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. His personality, which has become a myth, focuses on the main features of American democracy, which his presidency strengthened for a long time. The Civil War once again set Americans' sights on a unified nation and a free society purged of slavery, the Cain seal of the great democratic experiment. Lincoln believed that by preserving the United States, he had preserved, as he once put it, “the last hope on earth,” if only for his own era.

Slavery was undoubtedly at the center of the struggle between North and South, but it was not the only cause of the war. Economic, political-ideological and cultural factors were tied into a knot of problems that could no longer be untied through agreements and compromises. Since the 1920s, the United States has been in the grip of a “market revolution” that transformed all areas of life, but had different consequences in the South and in the North. The Northeast and Northwest were soon linked by a complex and diversified economy in which the agricultural sector gradually gave way to industrialization and trade. The growing demand for labor was met primarily by resettlement from Europe, and the number of people living in cities in 1850 was approaching the 5 million mark.

Expansion and commercialization also defined the South, especially the forward-moving Southwest. Cotton growing, which dominated here as a monoculture, contributed to the fact that the character of the entire region remained agrarian. Planters thought and acted as entrepreneurs on the principles of supply, demand and profit. For them, slaves were both labor and capital, a “resource” that became more and more expensive and scarce during the cotton boom. Since cotton production can only increase by increasing the cultivated area, plantation owners regarded all attempts to territorially limit slavery as a mortal danger to their economic and social system. They even pressured Washington to allow the importation of slaves, which had been banned in 1808, again. Culturally, the South remained in the grip of the past, and therefore a peculiar mixture of paternalistic and democratic elements emerged. Southern whites, poor and rich, rallied ever closer to defend their traditional values ​​and ideals, the Southern way of life, from being threatened by what they perceived as the individualistic and egalitarian society of the North. Slavery was also considered a positive value in the South, which was contrasted with the exploitative “wage slavery” of the North as a humane institution. The religious reform zeal that began in the north, with which many people reacted to rapid social transformation, was increasingly directed towards the evil of slavery in the southern states. At the end of the 1950s, two different societies, two cultures and two visions of the future were opposed within the union, which could no longer be restrained by the constitution and the party system, which had long served as a connecting link. In this fateful situation, which could not be handled by any individual, Abraham Lincoln took upon himself responsibility for an American nation that did not yet, or no longer, exist.

Relatively little is known about Lincoln's childhood and youth. He was born February 12, 1809, on a small farm in Gardin County, Kentucky, the second child and first son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. In 1816 the family moved to southwestern Indiana, which had recently been admitted to the union. Cultivation of the land and meager life on the border between the advance of settlers to the West between wilderness and civilization required great physical and spiritual strength from the pioneers. The lack of medical care led to victims in the Lincoln family: his younger brother died in early age, at the age of 9 he lost his mother, and a few years later his older sister died of childbed fever. The father soon married again. The stepmother, who herself had three children from her first marriage, encouraged the children to read. In total, Abraham attended school for one year. He was mostly self-taught. The Bible, which in many pioneer families was the only book in the house, and several other works that he was able to obtain - among them "Robinson Crusoe", "The Pilgrim's Progress" and Aesop's fables - he studied with particular thoroughness. His speeches subsequently testified to a deep knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which was not surprising then. His quotes from the Bible, aptly applied to everyday events, were stunning.

Slavery occupied a significant place in Lincoln's mind. His uncle and uncle's father owned slaves. His father, a staunch Baptist, on the contrary, resolutely rejected slavery, although not only for ethical and moral reasons; as a simple worker, he experienced first-hand what it meant to compete with the labor of slaves. The family moved many times, built a log house and cultivated the land. In 1830 they again moved further west to Illinois, which twelve years earlier had become, as a slave-free state, part of the union. Meanwhile, the grown Abraham worked for some period for his father, at which time his nickname arose “chip picker”, given to him for his skillful and dexterous ability to work with an ax. Then he left his family, found a temporary job, and during one of his boat trips down the Mississippi down to New Orleans, he became acquainted not only with the expanses of the then United States, but also saw the lack of infrastructure, which did not yet sufficiently connect individual regions with each other. The impressions from this trip, as well as a visit to a slave market with groups of chained and singing slaves, deeply shocked him. Upon his return, he settled in the small village of Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a postmaster, merchant and surveyor.

When the governor of Illinois called for volunteers for the Black Falcons' Indian War, Lincoln, whose paternal grandparents had been killed by Indians, enlisted and was chosen as a captain by his fellows. His military service was short and uneventful for his unit. The position of captain so strengthened his self-confidence that that same year he tried to win a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. During the election campaign he advocated the expansion and improvement of infrastructure and the development of education. After failing in his first attempt, Lincoln was elected two years later and established his mandate as a member of the Whig Party until 1842. During this period he was active as the leader of his party and chairman of the finance committee.

Professionally, he was unlucky at first, and he often had debts, which he always repaid to the last penny. After “Honest Abe” buried his plans to become a blacksmith, he managed to meet a justice of the peace and began to independently, but purposefully and persistently, study the legal sciences. In 1836 he was admitted to the Illinois Bar. A year later he moved to Springfield, new capital his home state of Illinois, where he became a partner of a lawyer known far beyond the region. Considering his background, Lincoln had an impressive journey: almost like the proverbial rags to riches, the poor son of a pioneer settler, before reaching the age of thirty, became a lawyer with his own practice and a politician in the public spotlight. He was already the embodiment of a “self-made” man, and thus of the “American Dream.” His marriage in 1842 to Mary Todd, the daughter of a Southern planter, only completed the picture of social rise. They had four sons, but only one, Robert Todd, lived to adulthood.

When Lincoln entered the political arena, Andrew Jackson was president. Lincoln shared Jackson's sympathies to the common man, but not his understanding of the philosophy of public rights, that the federal government should, for the sake of the common good, refrain from all economic initiatives and settlements. His political models were Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, who promoted the economic consolidation of the union through Congressional and federal government efforts. Under the slogan “the American system,” they demanded the unification of banking and currencies, improved infrastructure, and the development of American industry through protective tariffs. Like most Whig politicians, Lincoln was reticent on the issue of slavery: he rejected the “special institution” emotionally and morally, but did not want to be counted among the abolitionists, whose inflammatory rhetoric he sharply criticized.

The assassination of abolitionist newspaper publisher Elijah Lovejoy in 1837, reluctantly condemned by the Illinois Congress, marked a turning point in Lincoln's political development. This incident prompted him to make his first principled speech at the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield. Using motifs and elements of romance in his speech, he emphasized the core values ​​of American democracy and the legacy of the nation's Founding Fathers. The Constitution and laws should be revered as a kind of “political religion”. Rampant mob rule - as in the case of lynching - must never threaten national unity. At the same time, abolitionism did not seem to him the right way to solve the problem of slavery.

After his term in the Illinois House of Representatives expired in 1842, Lincoln devoted himself, along with his legal practice, to further political causes within the Whig party, and his outstanding activity in supporting candidate Henry Clay in the 1844 election was nominated by the Whigs in 1846. year to Congress. He passed with an overwhelming majority, but his service as a member of Congress in Washington from 1847 to 1849 passed without sensation. Through his popular opposition to the Mexican War, Lincoln made more enemies than friends. He supported the so-called Wilmaud Proviso, which would have prohibited slavery in all newly acquired territories, but it failed to pass in the Senate. In 1848, he actively supported the presidency of General Zachary Taylor and after his victory was clearly disappointed, not receiving the expected post in the government. After these two rather depressing years, he remained aloof from politics for a long time and devoted himself to his thriving law practice in Springfield.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 increased political polarization and contributed to the dissolution of the old party system and the emergence of a new political situation. The Whigs, whose northern wing insisted on an unequivocal rejection of slavery, lost support in the South, and the party disintegrated. The political vacuum was filled by the newly formed Republican Party, which organized resistance to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The conflicts awakened Lincoln politically and spurred him to activism. In 1856, he joined the Republicans and assumed leadership in Illinois. The composition of the party could not have been more heterogeneous: anti-slavery Democrats, former Whigs, abolitionists, temperanceists and nativists formed a conglomerate, the basis of which was the goal of preventing the further spread of slavery. With the exception of the abolitionists, these groups did not advocate the abolition of slavery in areas where it already existed. For them, what was important, first of all, was new territories, still “free land.” The Republican program boiled down to the well-known formula “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free man.”

With growing concern, Lincoln watched the events of "Bloody Kansas," where pro-slavery and anti-slavery parties engaged in guerrilla warfare. He was deeply indignant that the Supreme Court, in the Dreyde-Scott verdict of 1857, clearly vindicated slavery and thereby effectively overturned the Missouri Compromise. When the famous Democratic Senator of Illinois, Stephen E. Douglas, the chief responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, wanted to run against the Republicans in 1858, the public debates of both politicians attracted tens of thousands of people, in part. even special trains to listen to verbal duels staged in seven Illinois cities between "Little Giant" Douglas (1.62 m) and "Tall Baby" Lincoln (1.9 m) Lincoln lost the election, however, thanks to the verbal battles that revolved. mainly around slavery, attracted national attention and gained important political advantages for its future career. Lincoln's speech, the slogan of which was taken from the New Testament (Matthew 12:25): “And every house divided against itself cannot stand,” penetrated especially deeply into the public consciousness. Its main thesis was that the United States could not permanently tolerate slavery and a free society and that Americans were therefore forced to choose one system or the other. When Douglas accused his rival of abolitionism. Lincoln countered with a conspiracy theory that powerful Democrats, including President Buchanan, wanted to extend slavery first to new territories and then throughout the union. Lincoln knew that there was no exact evidence for this, but he deliberately made the accusation part of his election strategy, which even then, as he himself admitted, had long-term prospects. Douglas was able to secure the senatorial seat from Lincoln due to his experience and advocacy of the principle of "sovereignty of the people", which left the decision to allow or prohibit slavery to the discretion of the states and territories. On some points he went so far as to accommodate his president that his popularity in the South plummeted. The debate, however, made clear what divided both men: unlike Douglas, Lincoln considered slavery an evil that he rejected out of moral conviction.

In October 1859, public unrest reached a new level highest point as a result of the action of the fanatical, religious opponent of slavery John Brown, who had previously carried out political terrorist attacks in Kansas. He, along with his sons and several followers, attacked an armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown, who secretly received support from wealthy abolitionists in New York, wanted to signal a slave uprising in the South. But the attempt failed, and Brown was soon hanged along with his men. Lincoln was among those who condemned Brown's action because of its violence. At the same time, he warned the southerners that secession would be no less unlawful and punishable than the actions of an underground fighter.

At the Republican Party Convention in Chicago in May 1860, Lincoln was nominated for the presidency in the third round. As a compromise candidate with relatively few enemies, he handily outmaneuvered his well-known rivals, William Seward and Salmon Chase. His ally and candidate for the post of vice president was the staunch opponent of slavery, Hannibal Hamlin from Maine. The Republican election platform rejected slavery in the new territories, but did not demand its elimination in the southern states. She denounced the Buchanan administration's "sale of interests" to the South, sharply criticized the Supreme Court's decision in the Dreyd-Scott case, promised legislation for the rapid settlement of the western regions in the future, advocated looser citizenship provisions and improved infrastructure. Lincoln did not speak publicly during the campaign, but from Springfield he exercised well-thought-out leadership.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party split over the issue of slavery: its northern wing voted for Douglas, its southern wing for John Breckinridge. And she actually entered the election with two candidates - a circumstance beneficial to Lincoln. Both parties fought their election battles not for specific content, but for the more general values ​​that the candidates personified. “Honest Abe” Lincoln identified himself with the qualities that make up his myth to this day: the industriousness and work ethic, the honest modesty of a pioneer who rose from poverty and, without forgetting his origins and connections with the people, became a candidate for the highest office . It represented not only social mobility, but also honesty and the ability to remain true to oneself. These properties contrasted with the scandals and corruption of the Buchanan administration. The election campaign mobilized the American population to a degree unprecedented before that time. On November 6, 1860, participation in the elections exceeded 80 percent for the first time. It is not surprising that Lincoln, who was attacked by Southern Democrats as an abolitionist and "black Republican", owed his election solely to Northern votes, although he received 40% of the votes cast nationwide, all of them, with a few exceptions, from the densely populated Northern states, so that with his 180 electoral college votes, even with the unity of the Democrats, he had an unattainable lead.

Even more consistently than his predecessors, Lincoln applied a protectionist system when distributing positions. Already in the spring of 1861, 80 percent of political posts previously controlled by Democrats were occupied by Republicans. In distributing cabinet posts, Lincoln showed great political dexterity: he gave the most important posts, such as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Justice and Secretary of the Treasury, to his former rivals - Republicans William Seward, Edward Bates and Salmon Chase.

Lincoln's election caused extreme anxiety among Southerners, and the time leading up to his inauguration in early March proved difficult for himself and the nation. Even before this, some slave states had threatened to secede if the Republicans won, and that is exactly what happened before Christmas. South Carolina was the first state to dissolve its union with other states. Before February 1, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded in the first wave. Decisions were made accordingly by state conventions chosen by the people. While still in office, Buchanan allowed the seceding southern states to take possession of the federal fortifications, forts and weapons arsenals located on their territories. Only two fortresses, one of them Fort Sumter, located on an island in front of the port of Charleston, remained in the possession of the union. In early February 1861, the seceding states proclaimed the "Confederate States of America" ​​and installed former senator and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis as its president.

In an effort to restore national unity and aware that the states of the "upper South" had so far behaved loyally, Lincoln avoided harsh tones in his inaugural address on March 4. He compared the demand for secession to anarchy, but again emphasized that he did not think of threatening slavery where it already existed. The President made it clear that he was not thinking about a military conflict, that the fate of the nation was in the hands of the southerners. They did not vow to forcibly destroy the union, while he himself swore to preserve, protect and defend it.

The Confederalists did not convert special attention to Lincoln's call, and the last reluctant attempts at mediation in Congress remained unsuccessful. When the President refused to give Fort Sumter to the South, South Carolina troops responded on April 12 by shelling the fort. The civil war has begun. The following four states quickly seceded: Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina and Virginia, whose capital Richmond also became the capital of the Confederacy. The border states of Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware, and Maryland—all slave states—were at first hesitant, but after hesitation and internal dissensions remained in the union. So, the 23 states of the union with approximately 22 million inhabitants were opposed by 11 confederate states, in which 5.5 million whites lived and exactly 3.5 million slaves.

Like the president. Lincoln was the commander-in-chief of all armed forces, a function that required a lot of his time and energy. Apart from a brief stint as a captain in the Black Falcon War, he had no military experience. However, during the war he very quickly developed the ability to assess the strategic position and the necessary operational actions. As a first measure, he called on all states of the union to mobilize 75,000 volunteers with whom he wanted to suppress the “rebellion.” The population in the North responded to this call with great enthusiasm. On April 19, Lincoln ordered a naval blockade to paralyze Confederate trade and stop the entry of military supplies from Europe. On the battlefields, the better trained and led troops of the southern states inflicted painful blows on the Union. After the defeat at Bull Run in Virginia, where Northern troops were routed by the Confederates in July, Lincoln demanded an increase in troops to 500,000 men. The hope of quickly forcing the rebels to capitulate gave way to the reality that a long and brutal war lay ahead. Lincoln called General McClellan to Washington to reorganize the demoralized troops, and in November made "a new Napoleon his commander - a choice that turned out to be problematic. Thanks to the general's cautious wait-and-see actions, Lincoln came under political pressure from his own ranks. The population wanted to finally see victory , and besides, McClellan belonged to the Democratic Party, which further strengthened the skepticism of primarily radical Republicans.

Naturally, military operations were crucial to the advancement of the war. From Lincoln's point of view, it was very important to find a cohesive political concept that would give meaning to this struggle. The Confederate government had a relatively simple matter in this regard: the southern states fought for their independence, the preservation of their slavery-based social system, and the protection of their own territory. The North fought for the principle: for the unity of the nation - and only later, and secondarily, for the abolition of slavery.

Only if the president manages to convince political idea, for which it was worth making great sacrifices, there was a prospect of success. At the same time, Lincoln had to obtain the consent of the Republican faction, the political spectrum of which extended from conservatives to radicals. Thus, radical Republicans immediately after the outbreak of the war advocated the abolition of slavery and demanded that the president make the liberation of blacks the central goal of the war. The majority wing of the party, like Lincoln himself, favored, on the contrary, gradual emancipation combined with financial compensation for slaveholders and put the struggle for the unity of the nation at the forefront. Recognizing that only by uniting would it be possible to withstand the Democratic Party, Lincoln was able to amazingly connect the various factions through compromises. It was also his merit that during his presidency a normal political process took place and a historically unusual situation arose for wartime, in which not only the military, but also the voters could decide the fate of the nation. Lincoln was deeply convinced that democracy must adhere to the orderly course of political events even in wartime. Indeed, the two-party system in the North remained unscathed during the Civil War and even strengthened the president's rear, since disagreements and protests could be channeled into party-political channels, which was not the case in the South.

After the incident at Fort Sumter, part of the Democratic Party in the North formed a “loyal opposition” to the Republicans and promised the administration their full support. Stephen Douglas, until recently an ardent opponent of the president, now belonged to his allies and quickly recruited volunteers. When he died unexpectedly two months later in June, the Democratic Party was initially left without leadership. However, at the first meeting of the new Congress in July 1861, the faction continued Douglas's policies and supported Lincoln's war-related legislation.

Lincoln skillfully doled out important military posts to leading Democrats such as Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts and John Logan of Illinois. His second Secretary of War, sworn in early in 1862, Edwin Stanton, ran the Justice Department in Buchanan's Democratic administration. His initially harsh criticism of Lincoln soon gave way to deep admiration. Constantly referring to the principles of loyalty and patriotism during the war, Lincoln managed to win over part of the Democratic Party. These so-called "War Democrats" entered into a formal coalition with the "Union Party," as the organized Republicans called themselves after 1862, for tactical reasons. The conservative Peace Democrats, on the contrary, were still willing to negotiate with the South for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and constituted a majority within their party.

The only acceptable solution for the president was for the seceding southern states to revoke their declaration of independence and return to the union - this would open, as Lincoln explicitly put it, room for negotiations on the issue of slavery. First of all, the preservation of the nation was important to him, although he had a natural dislike for the southern social system. On August 22, 1862, he responded to the radical Republican publisher of the New York Tribune, Horace Grill, when asked why he was delaying the emancipation of the slaves: “My highest object in this struggle is the preservation of the union, not the preservation or abolition of slavery. If I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some slaves and not freeing others, I would did this. What I do in the matter of slavery and for the colored race, I do because I believe it will help to preserve the union... By this I have explained my intention, which I consider as an official duty, and do not intend to change my often expressed personal desire. that all people everywhere should be free."

A few weeks after this letter, on September 22, 1862, when the Southern troops were forced to withdraw from Maryland after the Battle of Antaytam, Lincoln decided that the moment had come to make public a decision that had long been ripened: he issued a preliminary declaration of freedom, according to which all slaves, those who were in the “rebellious states” after January 1, 1863 were declared free. This geographical limitation was intended to ensure the loyalty of the population in the border states and in already occupied areas. It also meant a concession to moderate voters in the North, for whom the abolition of slavery was not a motive for the war, but who understood that this step could facilitate the victory of the union.

Some radical Republicans criticized the declaration, arguing that it freed slaves where they could not currently be freed, namely in enemy territory, and did not free them where it was possible, namely in occupied areas and in border states that joined the union. This certainly apt argument, however, could not disguise the symbolic explosive power of the declaration, which directly or indirectly brought freedom to almost three million slaves.

The Declaration of Freedom truly revolutionized the war, which became a fight to end slavery and completely change the structure of the southern social system. A particularly radical step made possible by the promulgation of the declaration was the recruitment of blacks into the army of the northern states. By the end of the war, nearly 180,000 African-Americans had enlisted in the Union forces. They were mainly employed in work related to fortifications or behind the front line. Some units, such as the 54th Massachusetts, distinguished themselves with bravery in battle.

Foreign policy, Lincoln's Declaration deprived the governments of England and France of any opportunity to enter the war on the side of the Confederacy. Since now it was a question of a war “for” or “against” slavery, the public in both countries, which had long ago abolished slavery in their colonial areas, clearly took the side of the northern states. Lincoln was well aware that the Declaration of Freedom did not have a strong constitutional and legal basis. Only a properly enacted amendment to the Constitution could finally seal the fate of slavery before the end of the war. Without this step, slave owners could legally demand back their "property" - i.e., freed slaves, since the declaration was only valid as a war measure. Therefore, Lincoln did everything in his power to hasten the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, issued by Congress, for the final abolition of slavery by the individual states.

Among the population of the northern states, after widespread support for the war at the beginning, palpable skepticism grew, so that the "peace democrats" slowly gained support. As the midterm elections approached in late 1862, Lincoln's primary concern was to strengthen popular loyalty and spread confidence in victory. In September, shortly before the declaration of freedom, he first began to act against the growing divisions on the “domestic front.” He abolished the right of those arrested to a judicial hearing - a measure that legally made it possible to quickly and permanently imprison "troublemakers", especially deserters and collaborators. This corresponded to the deprivation of a fundamental democratic right, to a certain extent - an "emergency law", but it turned out to be an extremely sensitive and controversial means, which the "peaceful democrats" branded as dictatorial. In fact, the "fathers of the constitution" foresaw that such a step would be necessary in the event of rebellion or military invasion to ensure public safety. But the text of the Constitution did not contain certain data about who should decide: the President or Congress. Lincoln interpreted the provisions in the spirit of "presidential leadership" and achieved his goal despite the objections of the Supreme Court, whose chairman, Taney, had discredited himself by participating in the Dreyde-Scott verdict in 1857. Before 1864, Lincoln appointed four new justices. When Taney died in October 1864, Lincoln replaced him with former Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase, who had earlier demanded civil rights for blacks. The Supreme Court then upheld the government's right to arrest civilians if military considerations so warranted. Thus the Civil War—like other great wars in U.S. history—became the “hour of the executive,” and Lincoln provided subsequent presidents with an example of how the full political and military powers of the office could be used without actually overstepping the bounds of the Constitution.

With his actions against war opponents in the North and his temporary declaration of freedom, Lincoln provided Democrats with ample arguments to fight in the upcoming congressional elections. In the meantime, a popular settlement law had already been passed, which made it easier for farmers in the West to acquire land, but the latest defeats of the Union troops, combined with a decline in production and rapidly rising inflation, led to losses in the Republican Party. Democrats protested what they considered Lincoln's arbitrary interpretation of the Constitution, using the campaign slogan "For the Constitution as it is, and for the Union as it was," and demanded the return of the seceded states without abolishing slavery. Although the Republicans' lead in the House of Representatives decreased from 35 to 18 seats, they maintained their majorities in both houses of Congress.

In January 1863, Democrats intensified their attacks on Lincoln and his style of warfare and demanded peace negotiations with the Confederates. Based on such public statements, the leading leader of this movement, Representative Vallandigham from Ohio, was arrested and sentenced to prison by a military tribunal. Lincoln, however, allowed him to leave the union and go to the South. The president's revocation of the Habeas Corpus guarantee in this case even affected politics. Such measures were taken more than once, but this did not lead to the suppression of opposition to the Lincoln administration in the North. Conscription, introduced for the first time in the history of the United States on March 3, 1863, provided a new domestic political spark. Particularly controversial were provisions that allowed wealthy Americans to put up dummies in their place and buy their way out of military service. Tension increased in the cities, and in July 1863, riots and street battles began, which were suppressed with the use of military force. More than 100 people died in these protests, among them many blacks who fell victim to lynchings.

Only in the summer of 1863 did the North manage to effectively use its enormous material and numerical advantage. The turning point came in July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, where two forces totaling 160,000 soldiers clashed, of whom more than one-quarter were killed three days later. The Union troops were barely able to hold out, and the Confederates, under the leadership of General Robert E. Lee, were forced to retreat to Virginia. Almost simultaneously, Union troops under the command of General Ulysses Grant achieved success in western front and captured the fortified city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi. The entire Mississippi Valley was now in Northern hands, and the Confederacy was cut in two from north to south. On November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Lincoln delivered his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, which entered world literature on the occasion of the opening of a large soldiers' cemetery. The President used the sad occasion to put into words long-cherished thoughts about the meaning of the war. Over the graves of the dead, he defined the meaning of the civil war in ten sentences. Using brilliant language, he focused on the founding phase of the nation and on the basic democratic values ​​for which the United States stands: the equality of all people, their right to freedom and government by the people. He emphasized the common sacrifices made by the northern and southern states, and ended with a solemn promise “that these dead have not died in vain, that this nation, with God's help, will experience a restoration of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, will never perish from the face of the people.” land."

In March 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant as commander-in-chief, in whom he finally found a convincing military leader. Together with William Sherman and Philip Sheridan, Grant carried out Lincoln's plan - a large-scale and well-coordinated offensive. Lincoln himself, who usually sat late into the night poring over military books taken from the Library of Congress, developed an entirely new concept of command for the United States, under which his Chief of the General Staff (Halleck), Secretary of War (Stanton replaced Cameron) and Commander in Chief (Grant) ) received coordinating instructions from him himself. Lincoln's military genius, coupled with his non-dogmatic approach to the complex, new problems of modern warfare, was later appreciated many times over.

The presidential election of 1864 has gone down in American history as the most important. The people had to decide whether to continue the war or not - the administration formed by the Democrats had to offer peace to the South. Rivalries within the Republican camp and the emergence of influential contenders for the presidency, most notably Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, made it impossible to say with certainty whether Lincoln would be re-elected. In addition, one term in office has become almost a political tradition; since Andrew Jackson, no president has managed to reach the White House a second time. In July, Lincoln was chosen as the candidate of the Union Party, but still doubted his re-election. The mood in the North was inclined towards a compromise solution, and therefore the victory of the Democrats, whose candidate was none other than General McClellan, who was fired by Lincoln at the end of 1862, was not excluded.

The victory in the battle was decisive: the capture of Atlanta in Georgia by Union troops under the command of General Sherman on September 2, 1864 sharply changed the public mood, calmed the internal party differences of the Republicans and pushed the Democratic Party with its peace proposal into political impasse. Lincoln's victory could be seen as clear authority to continue the war and completely free the slaves. The President quickly submitted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, where it was adopted by the required two-thirds majority.

By the time the president was inaugurated again, the civil war was almost won. In his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, Lincoln again touched upon the themes of the Gettysburg Address and extended a hand of reconciliation to the Southern states: “Without malice toward any, and with love for our neighbor, for all, standing firmly in our God-given right, let us continue strive to complete the work we have begun; to bandage the wounds of the nation... to do everything that can give and preserve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” This is how he outlined his position on the reintegration of the southern states: leniency and reconciliation, rather than punishment and retribution, should determine the post-war phase.

Meanwhile, Grant's attack on Richmond and Sherman's even more notorious "throw to the sea", which left behind traces of devastation, demoralized the Confederacy and marked the beginning of its defeat. At first, Lincoln was skeptical of Sherman's plans because, like Grant, he did not understand the "scorched earth" strategic principle that gave the war its "total" character in the final phase. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army in Virginia, and a few weeks later the remnants of the Southern troops stopped fighting.

In his last speech, Lincoln strongly advocated the peaceful restoration of the southern states to the union. Their reconstruction included, in addition to the abolition of slavery, the beginning of confrontation American society with the situation of freed blacks. Lincoln understood the fundamental task of legal and political equalization of slaves, but did not yet know how to practically implement this in view of racist attitudes in the South and in the North. Suffrage for black men in the South could only be achieved through coercion, which was contrary to Lincoln's idea of ​​agreement and reconciliation. His successor Andrew Johnson also failed in this dilemma. But Lincoln himself may not have been able to cope with this extraordinary historical demand.

A few days after the end of the war, on April 14, 1865, in a theater box, Lincoln was struck by several shots and died of his wounds that same night. This was the first attempt on the life of an American president. The assassin was a fanatical and possibly mentally ill Southerner, actor John Wilkes Booth, who, along with other conspirators, wanted to kill leading Union politicians.

The time of the assassination attempt - almost exactly four years ago, the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter - in Good Friday- contributed significantly to the creation of the myth of the martyr Lincoln. The beginning of the apotheosis of his personality began during his lifetime and was supported equally by white compatriots and African Americans, who deified him as a “new messiah.” The funeral procession, which passed through many states of the union to his hometown of Springfield and was watched by millions of people along the road, became a manifestation of the American "civil religion." Lincoln often appealed to this secular, civic religiosity in his speeches. It had already promoted the social integration of homogeneous populations since Washington's time, and for decades after Lincoln it had helped to heal the wounds of the Civil War. Through Lincoln's example, the idea of ​​the sacrifice that individuals and the American people must make to preserve democratic values ​​and principles became a significant part of this "civil religion." It is no coincidence that after Gettysburg, Lincoln increasingly replaced the concept of “union” with the word “nation.” He wanted to strengthen the internal cohesion of this community, to direct people through the “mystical sounds of memory,” as it was said in the first speech when taking office as president, to a common center. A tall, often seemingly helpless man, sometimes melancholic to the point of depression, but always with a recognizable, although restrained, sense of humor, he united in his person the most important American ideals and virtues: Lincoln could rightfully be considered the savior of the nation, then the liberator of slaves, while always a real man from the people and a brilliant example of a self-made man. In addition, he represented a "supra-regional" American: a Westerner, born in the South and related to it, he was, however, a typical "Yankee".

In all this, it should not be forgotten that Lincoln was subject to harsh criticism during his presidency. "Peace Democrats" called him a tyrant; abolitionists reproached him for using the liberation of slaves only as a tactical means to weaken the fighting strength of the South. Even among his Republican party friends there were many who yearned for " to a strong man", like Andrew Jackson. There is no doubt that Lincoln was constantly improving in the function of a Civil War president. After his second election, almost all critics fell silent because they realized that no other person would have been able to fulfill the historical task.

Lincoln's presidency coincided with a war that had the greatest casualties in United States history, claiming more than 600,000 killed (360,000 on the Union side, 260,000 in the South). By mobilizing all available reserves of soldiers, materials and technical capabilities, the American Civil War anticipated, in certain structural ways, modern total wars of the 20th century. Constitutionally, it was the engine of centralization, as proven by the creation of a new banking system based on the National Bank Act, the development of education and the participation of the federal government in the construction of the railroad. Economically, the outcome of the war strengthened the superiority of the industrial North, which had entered the stage accelerated growth, over the agricultural South, which could not keep up with this pace.

Already in his first message to Congress in July 1861, Lincoln called war a “competition of men,” fought for the sake of principles and words, and not for material advantages. The Northern victory under his leadership ensured the unity of the nation and freed four million men, women and children from slavery. Moreover, by denying secession to Southern states that defied the will of the voters in 1860, the universal principle of democracy was protected. In state-legal terms, the principle of permanence and indissolubility of the union prevailed over the philosophy of “state rights,” whose supporters understood the United States as a confederation of sovereign states that could secede at any time. In this sense, the Civil War was part of the national unity movements that crossed the Atlantic and led in Europe at this time to the emergence of nation states in Italy and Germany. The political experiment of the United States, associated from the very beginning with the idea of ​​a special mission, continued, although not without conflict. The international leading role of the United States in later times clearly shows in retrospect the world-historical scale of the Civil War, which its contemporaries repeatedly perceived as the “second American Revolution.” The ideals and goals of this “rebirth” of the American nation still retain in the minds of the American people living memories not only of the man who personified them like no other, but also of his presidency.

Lincoln's fame came from his uncompromising fight against slavery, as well as the liberation of black people in the country. It was the abolition of slavery in America that forever changed the course of its history. During the Civil War, A. Lincoln was at the head of the country, and the freedom-loving people were able to defeat the Confederacy. He also managed to include in the government his main enemies, whose political views were fundamentally at odds with his own. Thanks to the competent policy of this president, America avoided the military intervention of Great Britain and a number of European countries. During his presidency, a railway began to pass through the entire country, receiving transcontinental status. The life of the sixteenth President of the United States was cut short by assassination.

Before starting a career. About childhood and adolescence

Abraham was born on February 12, 1809 in a simple farming family. The parents of the future American leader - father T. Lincoln and mother Nancy - lived in a small house located in the district of Hongeville, Kentucky. The Lincolns moved to Indiana in mid-1816, but the family was soon forced to move to Illinois. His mother died there in 1818.

President Lincoln, as a teenager, was the first of all family members to learn literacy and mathematics. Quite early on, Abraham had to help earn a living, in particular, he worked hard doing field work. When he grew up a little, he worked as a postman, as a boatman, and later as a lumberjack. Reading was easy for the young man, and after a working day he read books avidly.

When A. Lincoln turned 21, he left his father’s house and moved to the small village of New Salem. Here he devoted a lot of time to self-education and continued to “absorb” books. Two years later, future President Lincoln took part in the elections for the first time because he wanted to become a member of the Illinois State Legislature. However, this was not destined to come true. In 1833, he was appointed postmaster of New Salem, where he could spend hours reading the political news of the country and keeping abreast of the latest events. By the end of the same year, Abraham was appointed land surveyor, a position in which he worked for several years.

Lincoln's lawyer career

The Illinois State Legislature opened its doors to Lincoln when he won the election at the age of 25. He soon began to support the Whig political movement. Young Abraham began to take his first steps in politics during the presidency of E. Jackson. Lincoln intensively studied law, and already in 1836 he brilliantly passed the exams, which allowed him to practice law.

In 1937, he moved to Springfield, where his legal career began. Together with W. Butler, a law firm was created, which soon earned an impeccable reputation. Lincoln often took on the most difficult cases of people who had absolutely no money, and helped everyone in need of legal assistance. Very quickly he gained the recognition of people. Although this does not mean that future President Abraham Lincoln was a penniless lawyer who worked only with the poor.

He received handsome fees and managed to earn a considerable fortune thanks to his knowledge and constant practice. Lincoln's work history spans 23 years of practical experience. During his legal practice, Abraham managed to participate in more than 5,200 legal cases.

Entering the political arena

1846 marked the election of Lincoln from his Whig party to the House of Congress, which forced him to move to Washington. Between 1847 and 1849 he was active against the United States' war with Mexico. At that time, the President of America was James Knox Polk, whose actions Lincoln actively condemned. President Knox is famous for the fact that during his reign, some southern lands, including New Mexico and California, were transferred to the territory of the United States, to which he had a direct connection.

In addition, his government resolved the issue with Great Britain regarding the right to property in Oregon.

Lincoln openly criticized America's illegal invasion of Mexican lands and also fought for the rights of slaves and their emancipation. He continued to practice law. Abraham Lincoln (US President 1861-1865) became a member of the Republican Party in 1856. However, in the 1858 elections to the US Senate, he did not get the required number of votes and lost to Democrat Stephen Douglas. Despite this, many Americans knew him as a fighter for freedom and human rights.

US presidential election (1860)

By early October 1860, political rivalry between the North and the Southern states had reached its climax. Republicans and Democrats fought over the values ​​and visions embodied by the presidential candidates of both parties. The elections recorded the largest voter turnout at that time, exceeding 85% of the country's adult population.

On November 6, 1860, the name of the new head of state became known. Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, won with an absolute majority of votes, ahead of his competitors from the Democratic Party. Of course, it was thanks to the active support of the northern states that he managed to win, but it should be borne in mind that on the ballots of some southern regions his name as a candidate was not listed at all.

Inauguration and beginning of the presidency

On March 4, 1861, the inauguration process took place and Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States (photo above), took the oath of allegiance to his people. He advocated the unity of the people in the state and the equality of citizens.

Soon after he took office, the vast majority of positions in Congress were held by the Republican Party. In addition, his ardent opponents also received high government ranks. Thus, Chase Salmon took the post of Secretary of the Treasury, and W. Seward became US Secretary of State.

American Civil War (1861)

In 1861, the states of the South seceded from the Union and declared their independence, becoming the Confederates. This was followed by the outbreak of the American Civil War. The unity of the country was a priority for President Lincoln, and he tried to preserve it in every possible way. However, the events that began to occur in the States forced a number of tough measures to be taken. Already on September 22, 1862, slavery was abolished in America, and all slaves received official freedom. Now black former slaves were accepted into the army units of the northern states.

The turning point in the war between the South and the North came in early July 1863. In Pennsylvania, near the small town of Gittesburg, the troops of the North defeated the Confederates and pushed them back to Virginia. President Abraham Lincoln proposed a plan for a large-scale offensive, which was carried out by the soldiers of the North, led by army commander Willis Grant.

Repeat victory

The northern army confidently pushed back the Confederate troops, and already in early September 1864 the southerners lost the battle of Atlanta, which determined the outcome of the war. Meanwhile, the next presidential election began in the States, in which Abraham Lincoln won on November 8. The President of the United States (reigned 03/04/1861-04/15/1865) instructed Congress at the end of January 1865 to completely abolish slavery in the United States, thanks to which a corresponding amendment was adopted in the Constitution of the state.

Already on April 9, 1865, the southerners signed an act of surrender. This date is considered the end of the war. US President Lincoln proposed economically reconstructing the southern states and recognizing black citizens as full members of American society.

About the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

5 days after the victory, the play “My American Cousin” was staged in Washington at the H. Ford Theater. One of the actors, who was a supporter of the southerners, John Booth, entered the box where Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, was, and fired a revolver shot in the back of the head. The wound turned out to be fatal, and on the night of April 14, 1865 he died. A. Lincoln was buried in Springfield, where he began his legal career. The funeral procession passed through many states, and Americans left their homes to see off the man who forever changed the life of the country.

Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United States- born February 12, 1809 in Hardin County (Kentucky), died April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C. President of the United States from March 4, 1861 to April 15, 1865.

Lincoln was born on a small farm, the second child in the family. When Abraham was 7 years old, his family moved to southwest Indiana. Having lost his younger brother, older sister and mother at an early age, he was raised by his stepmother, who already had three children from a previous marriage. Education Lincoln received at home. Having started reading, he thoroughly memorized the Bible (it was one of the few books in the family).

WITH early childhood Lincoln was an opponent of slavery. His uncle was a slave owner, and his father, on the contrary, rejected slavery, since it not only did not correspond to his moral views, but also, as a hired worker, created competition.

In 1830, the Lincoln family moved to Illinois. Later he left his family and settled in the village of Salem (Illinois), where he worked as a surveyor, postman, merchant, etc.

By volunteering for the army, Abraham participated in the Black Falcon Indian War. Having received the rank of captain, Lincoln left the army. He later tried to win a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. Failing on his first try, he was elected 2 years later. Representing the Whig Party, he also served as chairman of the Finance Committee.

After studying legal science, in 1836 Lincoln entered the Illinois State Bar. A year later, he moves to the state capital, Springfield, where he becomes a partner of a well-known lawyer in the country.

In 1842, Abe married the daughter of a planter from the South, Mary Todd, who later gave him 4 sons. That same year, his term in the Illinois House of Representatives expired. In the presidential election of 1844, Lincoln actively supported Henry Clay, largely thanks to this, in 1846, the Whig Party nominated Abe to Congress. In the 1848 election he vigorously supported the candidacy of Zachary Taylor, but once Taylor became president, Taylor found no place in government for Lincoln.

After the collapse of the Whig Party, Lincoln joined the newly formed Republican Party, becoming the party leader in Illinois. He followed the vicissitudes of "Bloody Kansas" with concern and was outraged by the fact that the Supreme Court, by justifying slavery, thereby violated the "Missouri Compromise."

In 1858, Democrat and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, announced his candidacy for the post of senator, and Lincoln, in turn, nominated his candidacy from the opposition. The candidates' verbal duels attracted masses of people, and Lincoln's famous speeches made his supporters tremble. Even though Abraham lost the election, his anti-slavery stance attracted considerable attention.

In the 1860 presidential election, the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln, who beat his rivals Salmon Chase and William Steward with relative ease. The Republican campaign relied on banning slavery in the new territories, but not banning it in the southern states.

Even before winning the election, the slave states threatened to secede from the Union if the Republicans won. The first state to leave the Union was South Carolina, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. James Buchanan, who had not yet resigned, allowed the seceding states to take possession of the forts and weapons located on their territories. Thus, in February 1861, the states that seceded from the Union formed the Confederate States of America, making former Senator Jefferson Davis president.

In his inaugural address, Lincoln once again drew attention to the fact that he did not intend to eradicate slavery where it already existed. He also made it clear that the fate of the Union was in the hands of the southerners, and he was not thinking about a military conflict, but at the same time, Lincoln swore to preserve and defend the Union.

The Confederates demanded that Fort Sumter, located near Charleston, be given to them, Lincoln accordingly refused, as a result, South Carolina troops fired on the fort. Thus, on April 12, 1861, the Civil War began.

Soon the Union lost 4 more states: Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The states: Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland were wondering which side they would go over to and ultimately remained in the Union.

Lincoln appointed Democrats Benjamin Butler, John Logan, and Edwin Stanton to important military positions.

On August 22, 1862, New York Tribune publisher Horace Greeley asked Lincoln why he was in no hurry to free the slaves: “My main object is the preservation of the Union, and not the eradication or preservation of slavery. If I had the opportunity to save the Union without freeing the slaves, I would do it, and if I saved the Union while freeing the slaves, I would do it, and if I saved the Union while freeing some slaves and some not , I would do it. What I do in matters of slavery, I do because I believe it will help preserve the Union... By this I explain my intention, which I consider as an official duty... And I will not change my desire that all people should be free.

A month later, after the publication of this letter, Confederate troops were driven out of Maryland. This was the right moment to announce Lincoln's Declaration of Freedom. According to the declaration, all slaves located in rebellious states after January 1, 1863 were considered free.

After the Declaration of Freedom was adopted, the nature of the war changed - it was now a war to eradicate slavery. A radical step was the fact that blacks were enrolled in the army of the Northerners.

England and France, who were already ready to recognize the Confederate States of America as a state and also take their side, after declaring the “war against slavery,” went over to the side of the Northerners.

On March 3, 1863, conscription was introduced for the first time in US history. This caused a storm of indignation on the part of the Democrats, especially as they clung to the clause that allowed rich Americans to buy off the army or appoint someone else in their place.

The turning point in the war came in July 1863. As a result of the Battle of Gittesburg in Pennsylvania, the Confederates were forced to retreat to Virginia.

In March 1864, Ulysses Grant became commander-in-chief of the army. He, in company with William Sherman and Philip Sheridan, implements Lincoln's plan - a large-scale offensive, and on September 2, 1864, the Northerners capture Atlanta - this turned out to be a decisive victory in the battle.

Lincoln wins the 1865 presidential election again. In his inaugural address, he extended a hand of reconciliation to Southerners.

On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was mortally wounded and died that night. This was the first assassination attempt on a president in the history of the United States. The attacker turned out to be an actor from the South, John Wilkes Booth, who, together with a team of like-minded people, was going to kill leading US politicians.

The funeral procession passed through many states, right up to Lincoln's hometown of Springfield. Millions of people took to the streets to say goodbye to their president.