Lincoln the Unknown
From BookJive
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| Author: | Dale Carnegie |
| Publisher: | Buccaneer Books |
| Published: | |
| Pages: | 256 |
| ISBN-10: | 899683207 |
| Category: | Array |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Abraham Lincoln, born into abject poverty in the backwoods of Kentucky, struggles to obtain an education despite nearly illiterate parents. He eventually becomes a self-made and very successful lawyer, claiming as a client The Illinois Central Railroad, at the time one of the largest corporations in the world.
In 1832, after a three-month stint as a Captain in the Illinois militia, he unsuccessfully ran for the Illinois State Legislature and in 1833, lost his business, a general store he owned with associate William F. Berry. 1834 found Lincoln finally elected into the State Legislature where he served four terms until 1942, at which time he made an unsuccessful bid for Congress.
It was between the years of 1832 and 1835 that Lincoln met and, according to unproven history, fell in love with Anne Rutledge. Anne died of what is believed to be thypoid in August 1835. It is said that her death precipitated Lincoln's nervous breakdown in 1836.
While serving the legislature, Lincoln continued his legal studies and in 1836 received his license to practise law in the State of Illinois and in 1837 was admitted to the Illinois Bar.
In 1838, Lincoln met Mary Ann Todd who he married in 1842. Mary was opposed to slavery, and she strongly supported her husband's pro-Union policies. On the other hand, she received criticism for her numerous shopping sprees and because many of her relatives had chosen to side with the South in the war. Several relatives died fighting for the Confederacy. Mary caused controversy as First Lady; she made both friends and enemies while her husband was president.
Mary bore four sons, Robert, Edward, William and Tad. Edward died just prior to his fourth birthday from what is was believed to be pulmanary tuberculosis and William died at the age of 11 from typhoid.
In 1848 Lincoln was nominated by the Republican Party to run for the United States Senate against Stephen Douglas. Lincoln lost his bid for the seat but was nominated by the Party as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States--an election he won in 1860.
After Lincoln's election, many Southern states, fearing Republican control in the government, seceded from the Union. Lincoln faced the greatest internal crisis of any U.S. president. After the fall of Ft. Sumter, Lincoln raised an army and decided to fight to save the Union from falling apart. Initially Lincoln anticipated a short conflict; he called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months. Despite enormous pressures, loss of life, battlefield setbacks, generals who weren't ready to fight, assassination threats, etc., Lincoln stuck with this pro-Union policy for four long years of Civil War. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. This was Lincoln's declaration of freedom for all slaves in the areas of the Confederacy not under Union control. Also, on November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address which dedicated the battlefield there to the soldiers who had perished. He called on the living to finish the task the dead soldiers had begun.
On April 14, 1865, the Lincolns attended a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the performance John Wilkes Booth entered the State Box from the rear, and shot the president in the back of his head. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House where he passed away the next day at 7:22 A.M. This was the first presidential assassination in American history, and the nation mourned its leader. His death was the result of the deep divisions and hatreds of the times. Lincoln's body was taken to Springfield by train, and he was buried in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865. Because of the assassination, Reconstruction took place without Lincoln's guidance and leadership.
