Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States. He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky in 1809. His family moved around while he was young until settling in Illinois. Lincoln began his political career in the Illinois General Assembly. In 1834, Lincoln was elected to the state legislature as a member of the Whig Party. He worked as a lawyer and began a practice in Springfield, Illinois. In 1844, Abraham Lincoln served the first of four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. He then moved on to the United States House of Representatives. His early political career was nothing special, and he was the only Whig member from Illinois. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted to repeal the Missouri Compromise. As a result, the Republican Party was founded to oppose the Act. Lincoln joined the Republican Party in 1856 and challenged those who supported slavery. In 1860, he ran for president and won over a rival of his, Stephen Douglas. Southerners were very upset over the election of Abraham Lincoln and served as another nail in the coffin of secession. Lincoln was elected to two terms as President before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, after the end of the Civil War. During the war, Lincoln made bold, aggressive moves to ensure victory for the North. He called on 75,000 troops without declaring war, used funds for war material without the approval of Congress, and suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
"A House divided cannot stand."
-Abraham Lincoln
"A House divided cannot stand."
-Abraham Lincoln