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<b>Abraham Lincoln</b> (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the <a href="List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States" title="List of Presidents of the United States">16th President of the United States</a>, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the <a href="American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>, preserving the Union and <a href="Abolitionism" title="abolitionism">ending</a> slavery. Before his election in 1860 as the first <a href="History_of_the_United_States_Republican_Party" title="History of the United States Republican Party">Republican</a> president, Lincoln had been a <a href="Country_lawyer" title="country lawyer">country lawyer</a>, an <a href="Illinois" title="Illinois">Illinois</a> <a href="Illinois_House_of_Representatives" title="Illinois House of Representatives">state legislator</a>, a member of the <a href="United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">United States House of Representatives</a>, and twice an unsuccessful candidate for election to the <a href="United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate">U.S. Senate</a>. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of <a href="Slavery_in_the_United_States" title="slavery in the United States">slavery in the United States</a>,<sup id="_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#_note-1" title="">[1]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#_note-2" title="">[2]</a></sup>
Lincoln won the <a href="Republican_Party_(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)">Republican Party</a> nomination in 1860 and was <a href="United_States_presidential_election%2C_1860" title="United States presidential election, 1860">elected president</a> later that year. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the <a href="Secession_in_the_United_States" title="Secession in the United States">secessionist</a> <a href="Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the <a href="Abolitionism" title="abolitionism">abolition</a> of <a href="Slavery" title="slavery">slavery</a>, issuing his <a href="Emancipation_Proclamation" title="Emancipation Proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a> in 1863 and promoting the passage of the <a href="Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" title="Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution">Thirteenth Amendment</a> to the Constitution. Shortly after <a href="Robert_E._Lee" title="Robert E. Lee">Robert E. Lee</a>'s surrender to <a href="Ulysses_S._Grant" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>, Lincoln became the first American president to be <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_assassination" title="Abraham Lincoln assassination">assassinated</a>.</p>
<p>Lincoln closely supervised the victorious war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including <a href="Ulysses_S._Grant" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>. Historians have concluded that he handled the factions of the Republican Party well, bringing leaders of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. Lincoln successfully defused the <a href="Trent_Affair" title="Trent Affair"><i>Trent</i> affair</a>, a war scare with <a href="United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland" title="United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland">Britain</a> late in 1861. Under his leadership, the <a href="Union_(American_Civil_War)" title="Union (American Civil War)">Union</a> took control of the <a href="Border_states_(American_Civil_War)" title="Border states (American Civil War)">border slave states</a> at the start of the war. Additionally, he managed his own reelection in the <a href="United_States_presidential_election%2C_1864" title="United States presidential election, 1864">1864 presidential election</a>.</p>
<p><a href="Copperheads_(politics)" title="Copperheads (politics)">Copperheads</a> and other opponents of the war criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the <a href="Radical_Republicans" title="Radical Republicans">Radical Republicans</a>, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these opponents, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his <a href="Gettysburg_Address" title="Gettysburg Address">Gettysburg Address</a> (1863) became an iconic symbol of the nation's duty. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of <a href="Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States" title="Reconstruction era of the United States">Reconstruction</a>, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. Lincoln has consistently been <a href="Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents#Scholar_survey_results" title="Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents">ranked by scholars</a> as one of the <a href="Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents" title="Historical rankings of United States Presidents">greatest U.S. Presidents</a>.</p>
<table id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents">
<tr>
<td>
<div id="toctitle">
<h2>Contents</h2>
</div>
<ul>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Personal_life">Personal life</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Childhood_and_education">Childhood and education</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Marriage_and_family">Marriage and family</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Early_political_career_and_military_service">Early political career and military service</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#National_politics">National politics</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Prairie_lawyer">Prairie lawyer</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Republican_politics_1854.26ndash.3B1860">Republican politics 1854&amp;ndash;1860</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Lincoln.E2.80.93Douglas_debates_of_1858">Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#1860_Presidential_election">1860 Presidential election</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Presidency_and_the_Civil_War">Presidency and the Civil War</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Secession_winter_1860.E2.80.931861">Secession winter 1860–1861</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Fighting_begins">Fighting begins</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Conducting_the_war_effort">Conducting the war effort</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Grant">Grant</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Emancipation_Proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Gettysburg_Address">Gettysburg Address</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#1864_election">1864 election</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Second_Inaugural_Address">Second Inaugural Address</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Reconstruction">Reconstruction</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Home_front">Home front</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Redefining_Republicanism">Redefining Republicanism</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Civil_liberties_suspended">Civil liberties suspended</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Domestic_measures">Domestic measures</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Assassination">Assassination</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Administration.2C_Cabinet_and_Supreme_Court_appointments_1861.E2.80.931865">Administration, Cabinet and Supreme Court appointments 1861–1865</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#States_admitted_to_the_Union">States admitted to the Union</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Religious_and_philosophical_beliefs">Religious and philosophical beliefs</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Legacy_and_memorials">Legacy and memorials</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#See_also">See also</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#References">References</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Bibliography">Bibliography</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#External_links">External links</a>
</li>
</ul>
</ul></td></tr></table><hr/>
<a id="Personal_life" name="Personal_life"/><h2>Personal life</h2>
<a id="Childhood_and_education" name="Childhood_and_education"/><h3>Childhood and education</h3>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:HinghamSign.jpeg" title="Samuel Lincoln, first American ancestor of Abraham, worshipped at Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts"><img src="HinghamSign.jpeg" alt="Samuel Lincoln, first American ancestor of Abraham, worshipped at Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts" title="Samuel Lincoln, first American ancestor of Abraham, worshipped at Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Samuel Lincoln, first American ancestor of Abraham, worshipped at Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts</div></p>
<p>Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to <a href="Thomas_Lincoln" title="Thomas Lincoln">Thomas Lincoln</a> and <a href="Nancy_Lincoln" title="Nancy Lincoln">Nancy Hanks</a>, two farmers, in a one-room <a href="Log_cabin" title="log cabin">log cabin</a> on the {{convert}} Sinking Spring Farm, in southeast <a href="Hardin_County%2C_Kentucky" title="Hardin County, Kentucky">Hardin County, Kentucky</a><sup id="_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#_note-3" title="">[3]</a></sup> (now part of <a href="LaRue_County%2C_Kentucky" title="LaRue County, Kentucky">LaRue County</a>), making him the first president born in the west. Lincoln was not given a middle name.<sup id="_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#_note-4" title="">[4]</a></sup> His ancestor <a href="Samuel_Lincoln" title="Samuel Lincoln">Samuel Lincoln</a> had arrived in <a href="Hingham%2C_Massachusetts" title="Hingham, Massachusetts">Hingham, Massachusetts</a> from <a href="Norfolk" title="Norfolk">England</a> in the 17th century.<sup id="_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#_note-5" title="">[5]</a></sup> His grandfather, also named Abraham Lincoln, had moved to Kentucky, where he owned over {{convert}}, and was ambushed and killed by an <a href="Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" title="Native Americans in the United States">Indian raid</a> in 1786.<sup id="_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#_note-6" title="">[6]</a></sup></p>
<p>Thomas Lincoln was a respected citizen of rural Kentucky. He owned several farms, including the Sinking Spring Farm, although he wasn't wealthy. The family belonged to a <a href="Separate_Baptists" title="Separate Baptists">Separate Baptists</a> church, which had high moral standards frowning on alcohol consumption and dancing, and many church members were opposed to slavery.<sup id="_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#_note-7" title="">[7]</a></sup> Abraham himself never joined their church, or any other church,<sup id="_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#_note-8" title="">[8]</a></sup> and is the only president to have never done so.<sup id="_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#_note-9" title="">[9]</a></sup></p>
<p>In 1816 the Lincoln family left Kentucky to avoid the expense of fighting for one of their properties in court, and made a new start in <a href="Perry_County%2C_Indiana" title="Perry County, Indiana">Perry County</a>, Indiana (now in <a href="Spencer_County%2C_Indiana" title="Spencer County, Indiana">Spencer County</a>). Lincoln later noted that this move was "partly on account of slavery", and partly because of difficulties with land deeds in Kentucky. Abraham's father disapproved of slavery on religious grounds, and because it was hard to compete economically with farms operated by slaves. Unlike land in the <a href="Northwest_Territory" title="Northwest Territory">Northwest Territory</a>, Kentucky never had a proper U.S. survey, and farmers often had difficulties proving title to their property.<sup id="_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#_note-10" title="">[10]</a></sup></p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Abe-Lincoln-Birthplace-2.jpg" title="Symbolic log cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park"><img src="Abe-Lincoln-Birthplace-2.jpg" alt="Symbolic log cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park" title="Symbolic log cabin at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Symbolic log cabin at the <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Birthplace_National_Historical_Park" title="Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park">Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park</a></div></p>
<p>When Lincoln was nine, his mother, then 34 years old, died of <a href="Milk_sickness" title="milk sickness">milk sickness</a>. Soon afterwards, his father remarried to <a href="Sarah_Bush_Lincoln" title="Sarah Bush Lincoln">Sarah Bush Johnston</a>. Lincoln and his stepmother were close; he called her "Mother" for the rest of his life, but he became increasingly distant from his father. Abraham felt his father wasn't a success, and didn't want to be like him. In later years, he would occasionally lend his father money.<sup id="_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#_note-11" title="">[11]</a></sup> In 1830, fearing a milk sickness outbreak, the family settled on public land in <a href="Macon_County%2C_Illinois" title="Macon County, Illinois">Macon County, Illinois</a>.<sup id="_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#_note-12" title="">[12]</a></sup></p>
<p>The next year, when his father relocated the family to a <a href="Lincoln_Log_Cabin_State_Historic_Site" title="Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site">new homestead</a> in <a href="Coles_County%2C_Illinois" title="Coles County, Illinois">Coles County, Illinois</a>, 22-year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, canoeing down the <a href="Sangamon_River" title="Sangamon River">Sangamon River</a> to the village of <a href="New_Salem%2C_Menard_County%2C_Illinois" title="New Salem, Menard County, Illinois">New Salem</a> in <a href="Sangamon_County%2C_Illinois" title="Sangamon County, Illinois">Sangamon County</a>.<sup id="_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#_note-13" title="">[13]</a></sup> Later that year, hired by New Salem businessman <a href="Denton_Offutt" title="Denton Offutt">Denton Offutt</a> and accompanied by friends, he took goods from New Salem to <a href="New_Orleans" title="New Orleans">New Orleans</a> via flatboat on the Sangamon, <a href="Illinois_River" title="Illinois River">Illinois</a> and <a href="Mississippi_River" title="Mississippi River">Mississippi</a> rivers.<sup id="_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#_note-14" title="">[14]</a></sup> Lincoln's formal education consisted of about 18 months of schooling, but he was largely self-educated and an avid reader. He was also skilled with an axe and a talented local wrestler, the latter of which helped give him confidence.<sup id="_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#_note-15" title="">[15]</a></sup> Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing because he did not like killing animals, even for food.<sup id="_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#_note-16" title="">[16]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Marriage_and_family" name="Marriage_and_family"/><h3>Marriage and family</h3>
<p>{{further}}
<a class="internal" href="File:Mary_Todd_Lincoln.jpg" title="Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln"><img src="Mary_Todd_Lincoln.jpg" alt="Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln" title="Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption"><a href="Mary_Todd_Lincoln" title="Mary Todd Lincoln">Mary Todd Lincoln</a>, wife of Abraham Lincoln</div></p>
<p>Lincoln’s first love was <a href="Ann_Rutledge" title="Ann Rutledge">Ann Rutledge</a>. He met her when he first moved to New Salem and by 1835 they had reached a romantic understanding. Rutledge, however, died on August 25, probably of <a href="Typhoid_fever" title="typhoid fever">typhoid fever</a>.<sup id="_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#_note-17" title="">[17]</a></sup> </p>
<p>Earlier, in either 1833 or 1834, he had met Mary Owens, the sister of his friend Elizabeth Abell, when she was visiting from her home in Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match proposed by Elizabeth between him and her sister, if Mary ever returned to New Salem. Mary did return in November 1836 and Lincoln courted her for a time; however they both had second thoughts about their relationship. On August 16, 1837, Lincoln wrote Mary a letter from Springfield, to which he had moved that April to begin his law practice, suggesting he would not blame her if she ended the relationship. She never replied, and the courtship was over.<sup id="_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#_note-18" title="">[18]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#_note-19" title="">[19]</a></sup> </p>
<p>In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to <a href="Mary_Todd_Lincoln" title="Mary Todd Lincoln">Mary Todd</a>, from a wealthy slaveholding family based in Lexington, Kentucky.<sup id="_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#_note-20" title="">[20]</a></sup> They met in Springfield in December 1839,<sup id="_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#_note-21" title="">[21]</a></sup> and were engaged sometime around that Christmas.<sup id="_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#_note-22" title="">[22]</a></sup> A wedding was set for January 1, 1841, but the couple split as the wedding approached.<sup id="_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#_note-23" title="">[23]</a></sup> They later met at a party, and then married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield mansion of Mary's married sister.<sup id="_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#_note-24" title="">[24]</a></sup> In 1844, the couple bought a house on Eighth and Jackson in Springfield, near Lincoln's law office.<sup id="_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#_note-25" title="">[25]</a></sup> </p>
<p>The Lincolns soon had a budding family, with the birth of son <a href="Robert_Todd_Lincoln" title="Robert Todd Lincoln">Robert Todd Lincoln</a> in <a href="Springfield%2C_Illinois" title="Springfield, Illinois">Springfield, Illinois</a> on August 1, 1843, and second son <a href="Edward_Baker_Lincoln" title="Edward Baker Lincoln">Edward Baker Lincoln</a> on March 10, 1846, also in Springfield.<sup id="_ref-Whitep126_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Whitep126" title="">[26]</a></sup> According to a house girl, Abraham "was remarkably fond of children".<sup id="_ref-Whitep126_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Whitep126" title="">[26]</a></sup> The Lincolns did not believe in strict rules and tight boundaries when it came to their children.<sup id="_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#_note-27" title="">[27]</a></sup></p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:A%26TLincoln.jpg" title="An 1864 Mathew Brady photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book with his youngest son, Tad"><img src="A%26TLincoln.jpg" alt="An 1864 Mathew Brady photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book with his youngest son, Tad" title="An 1864 Mathew Brady photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book with his youngest son, Tad" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">An 1864 <a href="Mathew_Brady" title="Mathew Brady">Mathew Brady</a> photo depicts President Lincoln reading a book with his youngest son, <a href="Tad_Lincoln" title="Tad Lincoln">Tad</a></div></p>
<p>Sadly, however, Robert would be the only one of the Lincoln's children to survive into adulthood. Edward Lincoln died on February 1, 1850 in Springfield, likely of tuberculosis.<sup id="_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#_note-28" title="">[28]</a></sup> The Lincolns' grief over this loss was somewhat assuaged by the birth of <a href="William_Wallace_Lincoln" title="William Wallace Lincoln">William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln</a> nearly eleven months later, on December 21, 1850. But Willie himself died of a fever at the age of eleven on February 20, 1862, in <a href="Washington%2C_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.</a>, during President Lincoln's first term.<sup id="_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#_note-29" title="">[29]</a></sup> The Lincolns' fourth son <a href="Tad_Lincoln" title="Tad Lincoln">Thomas "Tad" Lincoln</a> was born on April 4, 1853, and, although he outlived his father, died at the age of eighteen on July 16, 1871 in Chicago.<sup id="_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#_note-30" title="">[30]</a></sup> Robert Lincoln eventually went on to attend <a href="Phillips_Exeter_Academy" title="Phillips Exeter Academy">Phillips Exeter Academy</a> and <a href="Harvard_College" title="Harvard College">Harvard College</a>. His (and by extension, his father's) last known lineal descendant, <a href="Robert_Todd_Lincoln_Beckwith" title="Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith">Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith</a>, died December 24, 1985.<sup id="_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#_note-31" title="">[31]</a></sup></p>
<p>The death of the Lincolns' sons had profound effects on both Abraham and his wife. Later in life, Mary Todd Lincoln found herself unable to cope with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and this (in conjunction with what some historians consider to have been pre-existing <a href="Bipolar_disorder" title="bipolar disorder">bipolar disorder</a><sup id="_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#_note-32" title="">[32]</a></sup>) eventaully led Robert Lincoln to involuntarily commit her to a mental health asylum in 1875.<sup id="_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#_note-33" title="">[33]</a></sup> Abraham Lincoln himself was contemporaneously described as suffering from "melancholy" throughout his legal and political life, a condition which modern mental health professionals would now typically characterize as clinical depression.<sup id="_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#_note-34" title="">[34]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Early_political_career_and_military_service" name="Early_political_career_and_military_service"/><h2>Early political career and military service</h2>
<p>{{Main}}
<a class="internal" href="Image:Abe_Lincoln_young.jpg" title="Sketch of a younger Abraham Lincoln"><img src="Abe_Lincoln_young.jpg" alt="Sketch of a younger Abraham Lincoln" title="Sketch of a younger Abraham Lincoln" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Sketch of a younger Abraham Lincoln</div>
Lincoln began his political career in March 1832 at age 23 when he announced his candidacy for the <a href="Illinois_General_Assembly" title="Illinois General Assembly">Illinois General Assembly</a>. He made the decision based on self-confidence; he felt himself equal to any man. He was esteemed by the residents of New Salem, but he didn't have an education, powerful friends, or money. The centerpiece of his platform was the undertaking of navigational improvements on the <a href="Beardstown_and_Sangamon_Canal" title="Beardstown and Sangamon Canal">Sangamon River</a>. Before the election he served as a captain in a company of the Illinois militia during the <a href="Black_Hawk_War" title="Black Hawk War">Black Hawk War</a>, although he never saw combat. Lincoln returned from the militia after a few months and was able to campaign throughout the county before the August 6 election. At 6 foot 4 inches (1.93 m), he was tall and "strong enough to intimidate any rival." At his first political speech, he grabbed man accosting a supporter by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and threw him. When the votes were counted, Lincoln finished eighth out of thirteen candidates (only the top four were elected), but he did manage to secure 277 out of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct.<sup id="_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#_note-35" title="">[35]</a></sup></p>
<p>In 1834, he won an election to the state legislature. He was labeled a <a href="Whig_Party_(United_States)" title="Whig Party (United States)">Whig</a>, but ran a bipartisan campaign.<sup id="_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#_note-36" title="">[36]</a></sup> He then decided to become a lawyer, and began teaching himself law by reading <i><a href="Commentaries_on_the_Laws_of_England" title="Commentaries on the Laws of England">Commentaries on the Laws of England</a></i>.<sup id="_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#_note-37" title="">[37]</a></sup> <a href="Admission_to_the_bar_in_the_United_States" title="Admission to the bar in the United States">Admitted to the bar</a> in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois that April,<sup id="_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#_note-38" title="">[38]</a></sup> and began to practice law with <a href="John_T._Stuart" title="John T. Stuart">John T. Stuart</a>, Mary Todd's cousin, who let Lincoln have the run of his law library while studying to be a lawyer.<sup id="_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#_note-39" title="">[39]</a></sup> With a reputation as a formidable adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments, Lincoln became an able and successful lawyer. 
In 1841 Lincoln entered law practice with <a href="William_Herndon_(lawyer)" title="William Herndon (lawyer)">William Herndon</a>, whom Lincoln thought "a studious young man".<sup id="_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#_note-40" title="">[40]</a></sup> He served four successive terms in the <a href="Illinois_House_of_Representatives" title="Illinois House of Representatives">Illinois House of Representatives</a> as a representative from Sangamon County, affiliated with the Whig party.<sup id="_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#_note-41" title="">[41]</a></sup> Beginning in the 1830s, Lincoln let his disdain for slavery be known.<sup id="_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#_note-42" title="">[42]</a></sup> In 1837 he and another legislator declared that the institution was "founded on both injustice and bad policy",<sup id="_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#_note-43" title="">[43]</a></sup> the first time he had publicly opposed slavery.  In the 1835–1836 legislative session he'd voted to restrict <a href="Suffrage" title="suffrage">suffrage</a> to whites only.  He would later say that he had been against slavery since he was a boy, but being labled an abolitionist was "political suicide" in Sangamon County in those years, and so he chose his words carefully when discussing the issue publicly.<sup id="_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#_note-44" title="">[44]</a></sup></p>
<a id="National_politics" name="National_politics"/><h3>National politics</h3>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Abelincoln1846.jpeg" title="Lincoln in 1846 or 1847"><img src="Abelincoln1846.jpeg" alt="Lincoln in 1846 or 1847" title="Lincoln in 1846 or 1847" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Lincoln in 1846 or 1847</div></p>
<p>Lincoln was a Whig and since the early 1830s had strongly admired the policies and leadership of <a href="Henry_Clay" title="Henry Clay">Henry Clay</a>.<sup id="_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#_note-45" title="">[45]</a></sup> "I have always been an old-line Henry Clay Whig" he professed to friends in 1861.<sup id="_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#_note-46" title="">[46]</a></sup>  The party favored economic expansion such as improving roads and increasing trade.<sup id="_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#_note-47" title="">[47]</a></sup></p>
<p>In 1846 Lincoln was elected to the <a href="United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives">U.S. House of Representatives</a>, where he served one two-year term.<sup id="_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#_note-48" title="">[48]</a></sup> As a House member, Lincoln was a dedicated Whig, showing up for most votes and giving speeches that echoed the party line.<sup id="_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#_note-49" title="">[49]</a></sup> He used his office as an opportunity to speak out against the <a href="Mexican%E2%80%93American_War" title="Mexican–American War">Mexican–American War</a>, which he attributed to <a href="James_K._Polk" title="James K. Polk">President Polk</a>'s desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood".<sup id="_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#_note-50" title="">[50]</a></sup> Lincoln's main stand against Polk occurred in his <a href="Spot_Resolutions" title="Spot Resolutions">Spot Resolutions</a>: The war had begun with a violent confrontation on territory disputed by Mexico and <a href="Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a>,<sup id="_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#_note-51" title="">[51]</a></sup> but as Lincoln pointed out, Polk had insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded <i>our territory</i> and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our <i>own soil</i>".<sup id="_ref-Basler1pp199-202_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Basler1pp199-202" title="">[52]</a></sup> Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed, and proof that that spot was on American soil.<sup id="_ref-Basler1pp199-202_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Basler1pp199-202" title="">[52]</a></sup> Congress never enacted the resolution or even debated it,<sup id="_ref-McGovern.2C_p._33_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-McGovern.2C_p._33" title="">[53]</a></sup> and its introduction resulted in a loss of political support for Lincoln in his district;<sup id="_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#_note-54" title="">[54]</a></sup> one Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln."<sup id="_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#_note-55" title="">[55]</a></sup></p>
<p>Despite his admiration of Henry Clay, Lincoln was a key early supporter of <a href="Zachary_Taylor" title="Zachary Taylor">Zachary Taylor</a>'s candidacy for the <a href="United_States_presidential_election%2C_1848" title="United States presidential election, 1848">1848 presidential election</a>.<sup id="_ref-McGovern.2C_p._33_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-McGovern.2C_p._33" title="">[53]</a></sup> When Lincoln's term ended, the incoming Taylor administration offered him the governorship of the <a href="Oregon_Territory" title="Oregon Territory">Oregon Territory</a>. The territory leaned heavily Democratic, and Lincoln doubted they would elect him as governor or as a senator after they were admitted to the union, so he returned to Springfield.<sup id="_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#_note-56" title="">[56]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Prairie_lawyer" name="Prairie_lawyer"/><h3>Prairie lawyer</h3>
<p>Back in Springfield, Lincoln turned most of his energies to making a living practicing law, even appearing before the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a>, arguing a case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a brdige.<sup id="_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#_note-57" title="">[57]</a></sup> By the mid-1850s, Lincoln was representing competing transportation interests; the river <a href="Barge" title="barge">barges</a> and the <a href="Rail_transport" title="rail transport">railroads</a>. As a riverboat man, Lincoln had initially favored riverboat interests, but ultimately he represented whoever hired him.<sup id="_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#_note-58" title="">[58]</a></sup> In 1849, he had received a <a href="Patent" title="patent">patent</a> for a "device to buoy vessels over shoals". Lincoln's goal had been to lessen the draft of a river craft by pushing horizontal floats into the water alongside the hull. The floats would have served as temporary <a href="Ballast_tank" title="ballast tank">ballast tanks</a>.<sup id="_ref-NMAH_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-NMAH" title="">[59]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#_note-60" title="">[60]</a></sup>
The idea was never commercialized, but Lincoln is still the only person to hold a patent and serve as President of the United States.<sup id="_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#_note-61" title="">[61]</a></sup> As the 1850s began, Lincoln also argued cases on behalf of the railroad industry. In 1851, he represented the <a href="Alton_Railroad" title="Alton Railroad">Alton &amp; Sangamon Railroad</a> in a dispute with one of its shareholders, James A. Barret, who had refused to pay the balance on his pledge to the railroad on the grounds that it had changed its originally planned route.<sup id="_ref-Donald_p._155_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald_p._155" title="">[62]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#_note-63" title="">[63]</a></sup> Lincoln argued that as a matter of law a corporation is not bound by its original charter when that charter can be amended in the public interest, that the newer proposed Alton &amp; Sangamon route was superior and less expensive, and that accordingly the corporation had a right to sue Mr. Barret for his delinquent payment. He won this case, and the decision by the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_Illinois" title="Supreme Court of Illinois">Illinois Supreme Court</a> was eventually cited by 25 other courts throughout the United States.<sup id="_ref-Donald_p._155_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald_p._155" title="">[62]</a></sup> Lincoln appeared in front the of the Illinois Supreme Court 175 times, 51 times as sole counsel, of which, 31 were decided in his favor.<sup id="_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#_note-64" title="">[64]</a></sup></p>
<p>Lincoln's most notable criminal trial came in 1858 when he defended <a href="William_%22Duff%22_Armstrong" title="William &quot;Duff&quot; Armstrong">William "Duff" Armstrong</a>, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker.<sup id="_ref-ReferenceA_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-ReferenceA" title="">[65]</a></sup> The case is famous for Lincoln's use of <a href="Judicial_notice" title="judicial notice">judicial notice</a> to show an eyewitness had lied on the stand.  After the witness testified to having seen the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a <a href="Farmers'_Almanac" title="Farmers' Almanac">Farmers' Almanac</a> to show that the moon on that date was at such a low angle it could not have produced enough illumination to see anything clearly. Based on this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted.<sup id="_ref-ReferenceA_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-ReferenceA" title="">[65]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Republican_politics_1854.26ndash.3B1860" name="Republican_politics_1854.26ndash.3B1860"/><h2>Republican politics 1854–1860</h2>
<p>Lincoln returned to politics in response to the <a href="Kansas-Nebraska_Act" title="Kansas-Nebraska Act">Kansas-Nebraska Act</a> (1854), which expressly repealed the limits on slavery's extent as established by the <a href="Missouri_Compromise" title="Missouri Compromise">Missouri Compromise</a> (1820). Illinois Democrat <a href="Stephen_A._Douglas" title="Stephen A. Douglas">Stephen A. Douglas</a>, the most powerful man in the Senate, proposed <a href="Popular_sovereignty" title="popular sovereignty">popular sovereignty</a> as the solution to the slavery impasse, and incorporated it into the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Douglas argued that in a democracy the people should have the right to decide whether to allow slavery in their territory, rather than have such a decision imposed on them by the national Congress.<sup id="_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#_note-66" title="">[66]</a></sup></p>
<p>In the October 16, 1854, "<a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Peoria_speech" title="Abraham Lincoln Peoria speech">Peoria Speech</a>",<sup id="_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#_note-67" title="">[67]</a></sup> Lincoln outlined his position on slavery that he would repeat over the next six years on the route to the presidency.<sup id="_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#_note-68" title="">[68]</a></sup></p>
<p>{{quote}}</p>
<p>Unlike the quiet, deep voice later used by impersonators and actors, Lincoln spoke with a thin high pitched falsetto voice of much carrying power that could be heard throughout his audience.<sup id="_ref-69" class="reference"><a href="#_note-69" title="">[69]</a></sup></p>
<p>In late 1854, Lincoln decided to run for the United States Senate as a Whig.<sup id="_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#_note-70" title="">[70]</a></sup> Despite leading in the first six rounds of voting in the state legislature, Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for <a href="Lyman_Trumbull" title="Lyman Trumbull">Lyman Trumbull</a> to prevent pro-Nebraska candidate <a href="Joel_Aldrich_Matteson" title="Joel Aldrich Matteson">Joel Aldrich Matteson</a> from winning. Trumbull beat Matteson in the tenth round of voting.<sup id="_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#_note-71" title="">[71]</a></sup> The Whigs had been irreparably split by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are not Whigs, and I am an abolitionist, even though I do no more than oppose the expansion of slavery" he said. Drawing on remnants of the old Whig party, and on disenchanted Free Soil, Liberty, and Democratic party members, he was instrumental in forging the shape of the new Republican Party.<sup id="_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#_note-72" title="">[72]</a></sup> At the Republican convention in 1856, Lincoln placed second in the contest to become the party's candidate for Vice-President.<sup id="_ref-73" class="reference"><a href="#_note-73" title="">[73]</a></sup></p>
<p>In 1857–58, Douglas broke with President <a href="James_Buchanan" title="James Buchanan">Buchanan</a>, leading to a fight for control of the Democratic Party. Some eastern Republicans even favored the reelection of Douglas in 1858, since he had led the opposition to the <a href="Lecompton_Constitution" title="Lecompton Constitution">Lecompton Constitution</a>, which would have admitted Kansas as a <a href="Slave_state" title="slave state">slave state</a>.<sup id="_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#_note-74" title="">[74]</a></sup> Accepting the Republican nomination for Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered <a href="Lincoln's_House_Divided_Speech" title="Lincoln's House Divided Speech">his famous speech</a>: "'A house divided against itself cannot stand.'(<a href="Gospel_of_Mark" title="Gospel of Mark">Mark</a> 3:25) I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."<sup id="_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#_note-75" title="">[75]</a></sup> The speech created an evocative image of the danger of disunion caused by the slavery debate, and rallied Republicans across the north.<sup id="_ref-76" class="reference"><a href="#_note-76" title="">[76]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Lincoln.E2.80.93Douglas_debates_of_1858" name="Lincoln.E2.80.93Douglas_debates_of_1858"/><h3>Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
The 1858 campaign featured the Lincoln–Douglas debates, generally considered the most famous political debate in American history.<sup id="_ref-77" class="reference"><a href="#_note-77" title="">[77]</a></sup> Lincoln warned that "<a href="The_Slave_Power" title="The Slave Power">The Slave Power</a>" was threatening the values of <a href="Republicanism" title="republicanism">republicanism</a>, while <a href="Stephen_A._Douglas" title="Stephen A. Douglas">Stephen A. Douglas</a> emphasized the supremacy of <a href="Democracy" title="democracy">democracy</a>, as set forth in his <a href="Freeport_Doctrine" title="Freeport Doctrine">Freeport Doctrine</a>, which said that local settlers should be free to choose whether to allow slavery or not and could overrule the Supreme Courts <a href="Dred_Scott_v._Sandford" title="Dred Scott v. Sandford">Dred Scott v. Sandford</a> decision.<sup id="_ref-78" class="reference"><a href="#_note-78" title="">[78]</a></sup> Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature reelected Douglas to the Senate.<sup id="_ref-79" class="reference"><a href="#_note-79" title="">[79]</a></sup> Nevertheless, Lincoln's speeches on the issue transformed him into a national political figure.<sup id="_ref-80" class="reference"><a href="#_note-80" title="">[80]</a></sup> </p>
<p>On February 27, 1860, New York party leaders invited Lincoln to give a <a href="Cooper_Union_speech" title="Cooper Union speech">speech at Cooper Union</a> to group of powerful Republicans. In one of the most important speeches of his career, Lincoln showed that he was a contender for the Republican's presidential nomination.<sup id="_ref-81" class="reference"><a href="#_note-81" title="">[81]</a></sup> Journalist <a href="Noah_Brooks" title="Noah Brooks">Noah Brooks</a> reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience."<sup id="_ref-82" class="reference"><a href="#_note-82" title="">[82]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-83" class="reference"><a href="#_note-83" title="">[83]</a></sup></p>
<a id="1860_Presidential_election" name="1860_Presidential_election"/><h2>1860 Presidential election</h2>
<p>{{Main}}</p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:The_Rail_Candidate.jpg" title="&quot;The Rail Candidate&quot; – Lincoln's 1860 candidacy is held up by the slavery issue (slave on left) and party organization (New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley) on right."><img src="The_Rail_Candidate.jpg" alt="&quot;The Rail Candidate&quot; – Lincoln's 1860 candidacy is held up by the slavery issue (slave on left) and party organization (New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley) on right." title="&quot;The Rail Candidate&quot; – Lincoln's 1860 candidacy is held up by the slavery issue (slave on left) and party organization (New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley) on right." class="location-left type-thumb"/>
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<div class="thumbcaption">"The Rail Candidate" – Lincoln's 1860 candidacy is held up by the slavery issue (slave on left) and party organization (<i><a href="New_York_Tribune" title="New York Tribune">New York Tribune</a></i> editor <a href="Horace_Greeley" title="Horace Greeley">Horace Greeley</a>) on right.</div></p>
<p>On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in <a href="Decatur%2C_Illinois" title="Decatur, Illinois">Decatur</a>.<sup id="_ref-84" class="reference"><a href="#_note-84" title="">[84]</a></sup> At this convention, Lincoln received his first endorsement to run for the presidency.<sup id="_ref-85" class="reference"><a href="#_note-85" title="">[85]</a></sup> On May 18, at the <a href="1860_Republican_National_Convention" title="1860 Republican National Convention">1860 Republican National Convention</a> in <a href="Chicago" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, Lincoln emerged as the Republican candidate on the third ballot, beating candidates such as <a href="William_H._Seward" title="William H. Seward">William H. Seward</a> and <a href="Salmon_P._Chase" title="Salmon P. Chase">Salmon P. Chase</a>.<sup id="_ref-86" class="reference"><a href="#_note-86" title="">[86]</a></sup> </p>
<p>Why Lincoln won the nomination has been subject of much debate. His expressed views on slavery were seen as more moderate than those of rivals Seward and Chase.<sup id="_ref-87" class="reference"><a href="#_note-87" title="">[87]</a></sup> Some feel that Seward lost more than Lincoln won, including Seward himself. Others attribute it to luck, and the fact that the convention was held in Lincoln's home state. Historian <a href="Doris_Kearns_Goodwin" title="Doris Kearns Goodwin">Doris Kearns Goodwin</a> believes the real reason was Lincoln's skill as a politician.<sup id="_ref-88" class="reference"><a href="#_note-88" title="">[88]</a></sup> Most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party<sup id="_ref-89" class="reference"><a href="#_note-89" title="">[89]</a></sup> as the Slave Power tightened its grasp on the national government with the <a href="Dred_Scott" title="Dred Scott">Dred Scott</a> decision and the presidency of <a href="James_Buchanan" title="James Buchanan">James Buchanan</a>. Throughout the 1850s Lincoln denied that there would ever be a civil war, and his supporters repeatedly rejected claims that his election would incite secession.<sup id="_ref-90" class="reference"><a href="#_note-90" title="">[90]</a></sup></p>
<p>Meanwhile, Douglas was selected as the candidate of the northern Democrats, with <a href="Herschel_Vespasian_Johnson" title="Herschel Vespasian Johnson">Herschel Vespasian Johnson</a> as the vice-presidential candidate. Delegates from eleven slave states walked out of the Democrat's convention, disagreeing with Douglas's position on <a href="Popular_sovereignty" title="Popular sovereignty">Popular sovereignty</a>, and ultimately selected <a href="John_C._Breckinridge" title="John C. Breckinridge">John C. Breckinridge</a> as their candidate.<sup id="_ref-91" class="reference"><a href="#_note-91" title="">[91]</a></sup></p>
<p>As Douglas stumped the country, Lincoln was the only one of the four major candidates to give no speeches whatever. Instead he monitored the campaign closely but relied on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. It did the leg work that produced majorities across the North. It produced tons of campaign posters and leaflets, and thousands of newspaper editorials. There were thousands of Republican speakers who focused first on the party platform, and second on Lincoln's life story, emphasizing his childhood poverty. The goal was to demonstrate the superior power of "free labor", whereby a common farm boy could work his way to the top by his own efforts. The Republican Party's production of campaign literature dwarfed the combined opposition. A <i><a href="Chicago_Tribune" title="Chicago Tribune">Chicago Tribune</a></i> writer produced a pamphlet that detailed Lincoln's life, and sold one million copies.<sup id="_ref-92" class="reference"><a href="#_note-92" title="">[92]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-93" class="reference"><a href="#_note-93" title="">[93]</a></sup></p>
<p><a class="internal" href="File:ElectoralCollege1860.svg.png" title="1860 presidential election results"><img src="ElectoralCollege1860.svg.png" alt="1860 presidential election results" title="1860 presidential election results" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
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<div class="thumbcaption">1860 presidential election results</div></p>
<p>On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States, beating Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, <a href="John_C._Breckinridge" title="John C. Breckinridge">John C. Breckinridge</a> of the Southern Democrats, and <a href="John_Bell_(Tennessee_politician)" title="John Bell (Tennessee politician)">John Bell</a> of the new <a href="Constitutional_Union_Party_(United_States)" title="Constitutional Union Party (United States)">Constitutional Union Party</a>. He was the first Republican president, winning entirely on the strength of his support in the North: he was not even on the ballot in ten states in the South, and won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states.<sup id="_ref-94" class="reference"><a href="#_note-94" title="">[94]</a></sup> Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, Douglas 1,376,957 votes, Breckinridge 849,781 votes, and Bell 588,789 votes. The electoral vote was decisive: Lincoln had 180 and his opponents added together had only 123. Turnout was 82.2%, with Lincoln winning the free northern states. Douglas won Missouri, and split New Jersey with Lincoln.<sup id="_ref-95" class="reference"><a href="#_note-95" title="">[95]</a></sup> Bell won Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and Breckinridge won the rest of the South.<sup id="_ref-96" class="reference"><a href="#_note-96" title="">[96]</a></sup> There were <a href="Electoral_fusion" title="Electoral fusion">fusion tickets</a> in which all of Lincoln's opponents combined to form one ticket in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, but even if the anti-Lincoln vote had been combined in every state, Lincoln still would win because he had an outright majority in states that had a majority in the electoral college.<sup id="_ref-97" class="reference"><a href="#_note-97" title="">[97]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Presidency_and_the_Civil_War" name="Presidency_and_the_Civil_War"/><h2>Presidency and the Civil War</h2>
<p>{{Main}}
With the emergence of the Republicans as the nation's first major sectional party by the mid-1850s, politics became the stage on which <a href="Sectionalism" title="sectionalism">sectional tensions</a> were played out. Although much of the West{{ndash}}the focal point of sectional tensions{{ndash}} was unfit for cotton cultivation, Southern secessionists read the political fallout as a sign that their power in national politics was rapidly weakening. Before, the slave system had been buttressed to an extent by the Democratic Party, which was increasingly seen as representing a more pro-Southern position that unfairly permitted Southerners to prevail in the nation's territories and to dominate national policy before the Civil War. Yet they suffered a significant reverse in the electoral realignment of the mid-1850s. 1860 was a critical election that marked a stark change in existing patterns of party loyalties among groups of voters; Abraham Lincoln's election was a watershed in the balance of power of competing national and parochial interests and affiliations.<sup id="_ref-98" class="reference"><a href="#_note-98" title="">[98]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Secession_winter_1860.E2.80.931861" name="Secession_winter_1860.E2.80.931861"/><h3>Secession winter 1860–1861</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
As Lincoln's election became more likely, secessionists made it clear that their states would leave the Union.<sup id="_ref-99" class="reference"><a href="#_note-99" title="">[99]</a></sup> On December 20, 1860, <a href="South_Carolina" title="South Carolina">South Carolina</a> took the lead. South Carolina was soon followed by Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana,<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._267_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._267" title="">[100]</a></sup> and Texas.<sup id="_ref-101" class="reference"><a href="#_note-101" title="">[101]</a></sup> The seven states soon declared themselves to be a new nation, the <a href="Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a>.<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._267_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._267" title="">[100]</a></sup> The North waited to see if <a href="Virginia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a>, <a href="North_Carolina" title="North Carolina">North Carolina</a>, <a href="Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a>, would <a href="Arkansas" title="Arkansas">Arkansas</a> also secede.<sup id="_ref-102" class="reference"><a href="#_note-102" title="">[102]</a></sup> President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy.<sup id="_ref-103" class="reference"><a href="#_note-103" title="">[103]</a></sup> Attempts at compromise, such as the <a href="Crittenden_Compromise" title="Crittenden Compromise">Crittenden Compromise</a> which would have extended the <a href="Missouri_Compromise" title="Missouri Compromise">Missouri line of 1820</a>, were discussed.<sup id="_ref-White360-361_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-White360-361" title="">[104]</a></sup> Despite support for the Crittenden Compromise among some Republicans, Lincoln denounced it in private letters,<sup id="_ref-White360-361_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-White360-361" title="">[104]</a></sup> saying "either the Missouri line extended, or ... Pop. Sov. would lose us everything we gained in the election; that filibustering for all South of us, and making slave states of it, would follow in spite of us, under either plan",<sup id="_ref-105" class="reference"><a href="#_note-105" title="">[105]</a></sup>
while other Republicans publicly stated it "would amount to a perpetual covenant of war against every people, tribe, and state owning a foot of land between here and <a href="Tierra_del_Fuego" title="Tierra del Fuego">Tierra del Fuego</a>."<sup id="_ref-106" class="reference"><a href="#_note-106" title="">[106]</a></sup></p>
<p>The Confederate States of America selected <a href="Jefferson_Davis" title="Jefferson Davis">Jefferson Davis</a> on February 9, 1861, as their provisional President.<sup id="_ref-107" class="reference"><a href="#_note-107" title="">[107]</a></sup></p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Abraham_lincoln_inauguration_1861.jpg" title="A photograph of the March 4, 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in front of United States Capitol"><img src="Abraham_lincoln_inauguration_1861.jpg" alt="A photograph of the March 4, 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in front of United States Capitol" title="A photograph of the March 4, 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in front of United States Capitol" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
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<div class="thumbcaption">A photograph of the March 4, 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in front of <a href="United_States_Capitol" title="United States Capitol">United States Capitol</a></div></p>
<p>President-elect Lincoln <a href="Baltimore_Plot" title="Baltimore Plot">evaded possible assassins in Baltimore</a>, and on February 23, 1861, arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C.<sup id="_ref-108" class="reference"><a href="#_note-108" title="">[108]</a></sup> At his inauguration on March 4, 1861, sharpshooters watched the inaugural platform, while soldiers on horseback patrolled the surrounding area.<sup id="_ref-109" class="reference"><a href="#_note-109" title="">[109]</a></sup> In his <a href="Lincoln's_first_inaugural_address" title="Lincoln's first inaugural address">first inaugural address</a>, Lincoln declared, "I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments," arguing further that the purpose of the <a href="United_States_Constitution" title="United States Constitution">United States Constitution</a> was "to form a more perfect union" than the <a href="Articles_of_Confederation" title="Articles of Confederation">Articles of Confederation</a> which were <i>explicitly</i> perpetual, thus the Constitution too was perpetual. He asked rhetorically that even were the Constitution a simple contract, would it not require the agreement of all parties to rescind it?<sup id="_ref-110" class="reference"><a href="#_note-110" title="">[110]</a></sup></p>
<p>Also in his inaugural address, in a final attempt to reunite the states and prevent certain war, Lincoln supported the pending <a href="Corwin_Amendment" title="Corwin Amendment">Corwin Amendment</a> to the Constitution, which had passed Congress the previous day. This amendment, which explicitly protected slavery in those states in which it already existed, was considered by Lincoln to be a possible way to stave off secession.<sup id="_ref-111" class="reference"><a href="#_note-111" title="">[111]</a></sup></p>
<p>By the time Lincoln took office, the Confederacy was an established fact,<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._267_c" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._267" title="">[100]</a></sup> and no leaders of the insurrection proposed rejoining the Union on any terms. The failure of the <a href="Peace_Conference_of_1861" title="Peace Conference of 1861">Peace Conference of 1861</a> rendered legislative compromise virtually impossible. Buchanan might have allowed the southern states to secede, and some members of his cabinet recommended that. However, conservative Democratic nationalists, such as <a href="Jeremiah_S._Black" title="Jeremiah S. Black">Jeremiah S. Black</a>, <a href="Joseph_Holt" title="Joseph Holt">Joseph Holt</a>, and <a href="Edwin_M._Stanton" title="Edwin M. Stanton">Edwin M. Stanton</a> had taken control of Buchanan's cabinet in early January, and refused to accept secession.<sup id="_ref-112" class="reference"><a href="#_note-112" title="">[112]</a></sup> Lincoln and nearly every Republican leader adopted this position by March 1861: the Union could not be dismantled. Believing that a peaceful solution was still possible, Lincoln decided to not take any action against the South unless the Unionists themselves were attacked first.{{Citation needed}} This finally happened in April 1861.<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._292_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._292" title="">[113]</a></sup></p>
<p>Historian <a href="Allan_Nevins" title="Allan Nevins">Allan Nevins</a> argues that Lincoln made three miscalculations in believing that he could preserve the Union, hold government property, and still avoid war. He "temporarily underrated the gravity of the crisis," overestimated the strength of Unionist sentiment in the South and border states, and misunderstood the conditional support of Unionists in the border states.<sup id="_ref-114" class="reference"><a href="#_note-114" title="">[114]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Fighting_begins" name="Fighting_begins"/><h3>Fighting begins</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
In April 1861, after Union troops at <a href="Battle_of_Fort_Sumter" title="Battle of Fort Sumter">Fort Sumter</a> were fired upon and forced to surrender,<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._292_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._292" title="">[113]</a></sup> and on April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send detachments totaling 75,000 troops,<sup id="_ref-Oates.2C_p._226_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Oates.2C_p._226" title="">[115]</a></sup> to recapture forts, protect the capital, and "preserve the Union," which in his view still existed intact despite the actions of the seceding states.{{Citation needed}} These events forced the states to choose sides. <a href="Virginia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a> seceded, and the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond. <a href="North_Carolina" title="North Carolina">North Carolina</a>, <a href="Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a>, and <a href="Arkansas" title="Arkansas">Arkansas</a> also seceded over the next two months. <a href="Missouri" title="Missouri">Missouri</a>, <a href="Kentucky" title="Kentucky">Kentucky</a>, <a href="Maryland" title="Maryland">Maryland</a> threatened secession,<sup id="_ref-Oates.2C_p._226_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Oates.2C_p._226" title="">[115]</a></sup> but the slave states of <a href="Missouri" title="Missouri">Missouri</a>, <a href="Kentucky" title="Kentucky">Kentucky</a>, <a href="Maryland" title="Maryland">Maryland</a>, and <a href="Delaware" title="Delaware">Delaware</a> did not secede. Lincoln urgently negotiated with state leaders there, promising not to interfere with slavery. After the fighting started, he had rebel leaders arrested in all the border areas and held in military prisons without trial. Over 18,000 were arrested, though none were executed. One, <a href="Clement_Vallandigham" title="Clement Vallandigham">Clement Vallandigham</a>, was exiled; but all the remainder were released, usually after two or three months (<i>see</i>: <a href="Ex_parte_Merryman" title="Ex parte Merryman">Ex parte Merryman</a>).<sup id="_ref-116" class="reference"><a href="#_note-116" title="">[116]</a></sup> Lincoln worried about protecting the nation's capital city and its vital rail links to the North. In May, angry secessionist mobs in <a href="Baltimore" title="Baltimore">Baltimore</a>, a city to the north of Washington that controlled the rail links, <a href="Baltimore_riot_of_1861" title="Baltimore riot of 1861">fought with Union troops traveling south</a>. <a href="George_William_Brown" title="George William Brown">George William Brown</a>, the <a href="List_of_mayors_of_Baltimore%2C_Maryland" title="List of mayors of Baltimore, Maryland">Mayor of Baltimore</a>, and other suspect Maryland politicians were arrested and imprisoned at <a href="Fort_McHenry" title="Fort McHenry">Fort McHenry</a>.<sup id="_ref-117" class="reference"><a href="#_note-117" title="">[117]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Conducting_the_war_effort" name="Conducting_the_war_effort"/><h3>Conducting the war effort</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
<div style="width:240px;"><a class="internal" href="Image:240px-RunningtheMachine-LincAdmin.jpg" title="&quot;Running the 'Machine'&quot;: An 1864 political cartoon featuring Lincoln; William Fessenden, Edwin Stanton, William Seward, and Gideon Welles take a swing at the Lincoln administration"><img src="240px-RunningtheMachine-LincAdmin.jpg" alt="&quot;Running the 'Machine'&quot;: An 1864 political cartoon featuring Lincoln; William Fessenden, Edwin Stanton, William Seward, and Gideon Welles take a swing at the Lincoln administration" title="&quot;Running the 'Machine'&quot;: An 1864 political cartoon featuring Lincoln; William Fessenden, Edwin Stanton, William Seward, and Gideon Welles take a swing at the Lincoln administration" class="location-right type-thumb" width="240"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">"Running the 'Machine'": An 1864 political cartoon featuring Lincoln; <a href="William_P._Fessenden" title="William P. Fessenden">William Fessenden</a>, <a href="Edwin_M._Stanton" title="Edwin M. Stanton">Edwin Stanton</a>, <a href="William_H._Seward" title="William H. Seward">William Seward</a>, and <a href="Gideon_Welles" title="Gideon Welles">Gideon Welles</a> take a swing at the Lincoln administration</div></div>

The war was a source of constant frustration for the president and occupied nearly all of his time. He had a contentious relationship with General <a href="George_B._McClellan" title="George B. McClellan">McClellan</a>,<sup id="_ref-118" class="reference"><a href="#_note-118" title="">[118]</a></sup> who became general-in-chief of all the Union armies in the wake of the embarrassing Union defeat at the <a href="First_Battle_of_Bull_Run" title="First Battle of Bull Run">First Battle of Bull Run</a> and after the retirement of <a href="Winfield_Scott" title="Winfield Scott">Winfield Scott</a> in late 1861.<sup id="_ref-119" class="reference"><a href="#_note-119" title="">[119]</a></sup> Despite his inexperience in military affairs, Lincoln immediately took an active part in determining war strategy. His priorities were twofold: to ensure that <a href="Washington%2C_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">Washington</a> was well defended; and to conduct an aggressive war effort that would satisfy the demand in the North for prompt, decisive victory.<sup id="_ref-120" class="reference"><a href="#_note-120" title="">[120]</a></sup> McClellan, a youthful <a href="United_States_Military_Academy" title="United States Military Academy">West Point</a> graduate and railroad executive called back to active military service,<sup id="_ref-121" class="reference"><a href="#_note-121" title="">[121]</a></sup> took a more cautious approach.<sup id="_ref-ReferenceA_c" class="reference"><a href="#_note-ReferenceA" title="">[65]</a></sup> He took several months to plan and execute his <a href="Peninsula_Campaign" title="Peninsula Campaign">Peninsula Campaign</a>, with the objective of capturing <a href="Richmond%2C_Virginia" title="Richmond, Virginia">Richmond</a> by moving the <a href="Army_of_the_Potomac" title="Army of the Potomac">Army of the Potomac</a> by boat to the <a href="Virginia_Peninsula" title="Virginia Peninsula">peninsula</a> and then traveling by land to Richmond. McClellan's delay concerned Lincoln, as did his insistence that no troops were needed to defend Washington, Lincoln insisted on holding some of McClellan's troops to defend the capital, a decision McClellan blamed for the ultimate failure of the Peninsula Campaign.<sup id="_ref-ReferenceA_d" class="reference"><a href="#_note-ReferenceA" title="">[65]</a></sup> McClellan, a conservative <a href="Democratic_Party_(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)">Democrat</a>,<sup id="_ref-122" class="reference"><a href="#_note-122" title="">[122]</a></sup> was passed over for general-in-chief (that is, chief strategist) in favor of <a href="Henry_Wager_Halleck" title="Henry Wager Halleck">Henry Wager Halleck</a>, after giving Lincoln his <i>Harrison's Landing Letter</i>, where he offered unsolicited political advice to Lincoln urging caution in the war effort.<sup id="_ref-123" class="reference"><a href="#_note-123" title="">[123]</a></sup> McClellan's letter incensed Radical Republicans, who successfully pressured Lincoln to appoint <a href="John_Pope_(military_officer)" title="John Pope (military officer)">John Pope</a>, a Republican, as head of the new <a href="Army_of_Virginia" title="Army of Virginia">Army of Virginia</a>. Pope complied with Lincoln's strategic desire to move toward Richmond from the north, thus protecting the capital from attack. However, Pope was soundly defeated at the <a href="Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run" title="Second Battle of Bull Run">Second Battle of Bull Run</a> in the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac to defend Washington for a second time.<sup id="_ref-124" class="reference"><a href="#_note-124" title="">[124]</a></sup> In response to his failure, Pope was sent to Minnesota to fight the <a href="Sioux" title="Sioux">Sioux</a>.<sup id="_ref-125" class="reference"><a href="#_note-125" title="">[125]</a></sup></p>
<p>Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington, to the dismay of his cabinet (all save Seward), who wished McClellan gone.<sup id="_ref-126" class="reference"><a href="#_note-126" title="">[126]</a></sup> Two days after McClellan's return to command, General Lee's forces crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, leading to the <a href="Battle_of_Antietam" title="Battle of Antietam">Battle of Antietam</a> (September 1862).<sup id="_ref-127" class="reference"><a href="#_note-127" title="">[127]</a></sup> The ensuing Union victory, one of the bloodiest in American history, enabled Lincoln to give notice that he would issue an Emancipation Proclamation in January,<sup id="_ref-128" class="reference"><a href="#_note-128" title="">[128]</a></sup> but he relieved McClellan of his command after waiting for the conclusion of the 1862 midterm elections and appointed Republican <a href="Ambrose_Burnside" title="Ambrose Burnside">Ambrose Burnside</a> to head the Army of the Potomac.<sup id="_ref-129" class="reference"><a href="#_note-129" title="">[129]</a></sup> Burnside was politically neutral, which Lincoln desired, and for the most part supported the President's aims.<sup id="_ref-Donald.2C_p._390_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Donald.2C_p._390" title="">[130]</a></sup> Burnside had promised to follow through on Lincoln's strategic vision for a strong offensive against Lee and Richmond. After Burnside was stunningly defeated at <a href="Battle_of_Fredericksburg" title="Battle of Fredericksburg">Fredericksburg</a> in December,<sup id="_ref-131" class="reference"><a href="#_note-131" title="">[131]</a></sup> <a href="Joseph_Hooker" title="Joseph Hooker">Joseph Hooker</a> took command, despite his history of "loose talk" and criticizing former commanders.<sup id="_ref-132" class="reference"><a href="#_note-132" title="">[132]</a></sup> Hooker was routed by Lee at the <a href="Battle_of_Chancellorsville" title="Battle of Chancellorsville">Battle of Chancellorsville</a> in May, 1863,<sup id="_ref-133" class="reference"><a href="#_note-133" title="">[133]</a></sup> but continued to command his troops for roughly two months. Hooker did not agree with Lincoln's desire to divide his troops, and possibly force Lee to do the same, and tendered his resignation, which was accepted. During the <a href="Gettysburg_Campaign" title="Gettysburg Campaign">Gettysburg Campaign</a> he was replaced by <a href="George_Meade" title="George Meade">George Meade</a>.<sup id="_ref-134" class="reference"><a href="#_note-134" title="">[134]</a></sup></p>
<p>Using black troops and former slaves was official government policy after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. At first Lincoln was reluctant to fully implement this program, but by the spring of 1863 he was ready to initiate “a massive recruitment of Negro troops.” In a letter to Andrew Johnson, the military governor of Tennessee, encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, “The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once.”<sup id="_ref-135" class="reference"><a href="#_note-135" title="">[135]</a></sup> By the end of 1863, at Lincoln’s direction, General Lorenzo Thomas had recruited twenty regiments of African Americans from the Mississippi Valley.<sup id="_ref-136" class="reference"><a href="#_note-136" title="">[136]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Grant" name="Grant"/><h3>Grant</h3>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:PinkertonLincolnMcClernand.jpg" title="Lincoln, in a top hat, with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at Antietam"><img src="PinkertonLincolnMcClernand.jpg" alt="Lincoln, in a top hat, with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at Antietam" title="Lincoln, in a top hat, with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at Antietam" class="location-none type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Lincoln, in a <a href="Top_hat" title="top hat">top hat</a>, with <a href="Allan_Pinkerton" title="Allan Pinkerton">Allan Pinkerton</a> and Major General <a href="John_Alexander_McClernand" title="John Alexander McClernand">John Alexander McClernand</a> at Antietam</div></p>
<p>After the Union victory at Gettysburg, Meade's failure to pursue Lee and months of inactivity for the Army of the Potomac persuaded Lincoln that a change was needed. McClellan was seeking the Democratic nomination for President, and Lincoln worried that Grant might also have political aspirations. Lincoln convinced himself that Grant didn't have political aspirations, in the immediate at least, and made <a href="Ulysses_S._Grant" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a> commander of the Union Army.<sup id="_ref-137" class="reference"><a href="#_note-137" title="">[137]</a></sup> Grant already had a solid string of victories in the Western Theater, including the battles of Vicksburg and <a href="Third_Battle_of_Chattanooga" title="Third Battle of Chattanooga">Chattanooga</a>.<sup id="_ref-138" class="reference"><a href="#_note-138" title="">[138]</a></sup> Responding to criticism of Grant, Lincoln replied, "I can't spare this man. He fights."<sup id="_ref-139" class="reference"><a href="#_note-139" title="">[139]</a></sup>
Grant waged his bloody <a href="Overland_Campaign" title="Overland Campaign">Overland Campaign</a> in 1864 with a strategy of a <a href="Attrition_warfare" title="attrition warfare">war of attrition</a>, characterized by high Union losses at battles such as the <a href="Battle_of_the_Wilderness" title="Battle of the Wilderness">Wilderness</a> and <a href="Battle_of_Cold_Harbor" title="Battle of Cold Harbor">Cold Harbor</a>, but by proportionately higher Confederate losses.{{Citation needed}} The high casualty figures alarmed the nation, and, after Grant lost a third of his army, Lincoln asked what Grant's plans were. "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer," replied Grant. Lincoln and the Republican party mobilized support throughout the North, backed Grant to the hilt, and replaced his losses.<sup id="_ref-140" class="reference"><a href="#_note-140" title="">[140]</a></sup>
The Confederacy was out of replacements, so Lee's army shrank with every battle, forcing it back to trenches outside <a href="Siege_of_Petersburg" title="Siege of Petersburg">Petersburg</a>. In April 1865, Lee's army finally crumbled under Grant's pounding, and Richmond fell.<sup id="_ref-141" class="reference"><a href="#_note-141" title="">[141]</a></sup></p>
<p>Lincoln authorized Grant to target the Confederate infrastructure – such as plantations, railroads, and bridges – hoping to destroy the South's morale and weaken its economic ability to continue fighting. This strategy allowed Generals <a href="William_Tecumseh_Sherman" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">Sherman</a> and <a href="Philip_Sheridan" title="Philip Sheridan">Sheridan</a> to destroy plantations and towns in the <a href="Shenandoah_Valley" title="Shenandoah Valley">Shenandoah Valley</a>, <a href="Georgia_(U.S._state)" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a>, and South Carolina. The damage caused by <a href="Sherman's_March_to_the_Sea" title="Sherman's March to the Sea">Sherman's March to the Sea</a> through Georgia totaled more than $100 million by Sherman's own estimate.<sup id="_ref-142" class="reference"><a href="#_note-142" title="">[142]</a></sup></p>
<p>Lincoln grasped the need to control strategic points (such as the Mississippi River and the fortress city of Vicksburg) and understood the importance of defeating the enemy's army, rather than simply capturing territory. He had, however, limited success in motivating his commanders to adopt his strategies until late 1863, when he found a man who shared his vision of the war in <a href="Ulysses_S._Grant" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a>. Only then could he relentlessly pursue a series of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters, and have a top commander who agreed on the use of black troops.<sup id="_ref-143" class="reference"><a href="#_note-143" title="">[143]</a></sup>
Throughout the war, Lincoln showed an intense interest with the military campaigns. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office, reading dispatches from the field. He visited battle sites frequently, and seemed fascinated by scenes of war. During <a href="Jubal_Anderson_Early" title="Jubal Anderson Early">Jubal Anderson Early</a>'s <a href="Battle_of_Fort_Stevens" title="Battle of Fort Stevens">raid on Washington, D.C.</a> in 1864, Lincoln was watching the combat from an exposed position; captain <a href="Oliver_Wendell_Holmes%2C_Jr." title="Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.">Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.</a> shouted at him, "Get down, you damn fool, before you get shot!"<sup id="_ref-144" class="reference"><a href="#_note-144" title="">[144]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Emancipation_Proclamation" name="Emancipation_Proclamation"/><h3>Emancipation Proclamation</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
{{Emancipation Proclamation draft}}
Lincoln maintained that the powers of his administration to end slavery were limited by the Constitution. He expected to cause the eventual extinction of slavery by stopping its further expansion into any U.S. territory, and by persuading states to accept <a href="Compensated_emancipation" title="compensated emancipation">compensated emancipation</a> if the state would outlaw slavery (an offer that took effect only in Washington, D.C.). Guelzo says Lincoln believed that shrinking slavery in this way would make it uneconomical, and place it back on the road to eventual extinction that the Founders had envisioned.<sup id="_ref-145" class="reference"><a href="#_note-145" title="">[145]</a></sup></p>
<p>In July 1862, Congress passed the Second <a href="Confiscation_Acts" title="Confiscation Acts">Confiscation Act</a>, which freed the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion.<sup id="_ref-146" class="reference"><a href="#_note-146" title="">[146]</a></sup>
The goal was to weaken the rebellion, which was led and controlled by slave owners. While it did not abolish the legal institution of slavery (the <a href="Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" title="Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution">Thirteenth Amendment</a> did that), the Act showed that Lincoln had the support of Congress in liberating slaves owned by rebels. In that month, Lincoln discussed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet.
In a shrewdly penned August reply to an editorial by Horace Greeley in the influential <i>New York Tribune</i>, with a draft of the Proclamation already on Lincoln's desk, the president subordinated the goal of ending slavery to the cause of preserving the Union, while, at the same time, preparing the public for emancipation being incomplete at first. Lincoln had decided at this point that he could not win the war without freeing the slaves, and so it was a necessity "to do more to help the cause":{{fact}}</p>
<p>{{quote}}
The <a href="Emancipation_Proclamation" title="Emancipation Proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a>, announced on September 22, 1862 and put into effect on January 1, 1863, freed slaves in territories not already under Union control. As Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until all of them in Confederate territory (over three million) were freed. Lincoln later said: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." The proclamation made the abolition of slavery in the rebel states an official war goal. Lincoln then threw his energies into passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery throughout the nation.<sup id="_ref-147" class="reference"><a href="#_note-147" title="">[147]</a></sup> He personally lobbied individual Congressmen for the Amendment, which was passed by the Congress in early 1865, shortly before his death.<sup id="_ref-148" class="reference"><a href="#_note-148" title="">[148]</a></sup>
A few days asfter the Emancipation was announced, thirteen Republican governors met at the <a href="War_Governors'_Conference" title="War Governors' Conference">War Governors' Conference</a>; they supported the president's Proclamation, but suggested the removal of General <a href="George_B._McClellan" title="George B. McClellan">George B. McClellan</a> as commander of the Union's <a href="Army_of_the_Potomac" title="Army of the Potomac">Army of the Potomac</a>.<sup id="_ref-149" class="reference"><a href="#_note-149" title="">[149]</a></sup>
For some time, Lincoln continued earlier plans to set up <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_on_slavery#Colonization" title="Abraham Lincoln on slavery">colonies</a> for the newly freed slaves. He commented favorably on colonization in the Emancipation Proclamation, but all attempts at such a massive undertaking failed. As <a href="Frederick_Douglass" title="Frederick Douglass">Frederick Douglass</a> observed, Lincoln was, "The first great man that I talked with in the United States freely who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color."<sup id="_ref-150" class="reference"><a href="#_note-150" title="">[150]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Gettysburg_Address" name="Gettysburg_Address"/><h3>Gettysburg Address</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
Although the <a href="Battle_of_Gettysburg" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Battle of Gettysburg</a> was a Union victory, it was also the bloodiest battle of the war and dealt a blow to Lincoln's war effort. As the Union Army decreased in numbers due to casualties, more soldiers were needed to replace the ranks. Lincoln's 1863 military drafts were considered "odious" among many in the north, particularly immigrants. The <a href="New_York_Draft_Riots" title="New York Draft Riots">New York Draft Riots</a> of July 1863 were the most notable manifestation of this discontent.
Writing to Lincoln in September 1863, the <a href="List_of_Governors_of_Pennsylvania" title="List of Governors of Pennsylvania">Governor of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="Andrew_Gregg_Curtin" title="Andrew Gregg Curtin">Andrew Gregg Curtin</a>, warned that political sentiments were turning against Lincoln and the war effort:
</p><blockquote><i>If the election were to occur now, the result would be extremely doubtful, and although most of our discreet friends are sanguine of the result, my impression is, the chances would be against us. The draft is very odious in the State ... the Democratic leaders have succeeded in exciting prejudice and passion, and have infused their poison into the minds of the people to a very large extent, and the changes are against us.</i><sup id="_ref-151" class="reference"><a href="#_note-151" title="">[151]</a></sup></blockquote>
<p>The <i>Gettysburg Address</i> is one of the most quoted speeches in <a href="History_of_the_United_States" title="History of the United States">United States history</a>.<sup id="_ref-152" class="reference"><a href="#_note-152" title="">[152]</a></sup>
<sup id="_ref-153" class="reference"><a href="#_note-153" title="">[153]</a></sup>
<sup id="_ref-154" class="reference"><a href="#_note-154" title="">[154]</a></sup> It was delivered at the dedication of the <a href="Gettysburg_National_Cemetery" title="Gettysburg National Cemetery">Soldiers' National Cemetery</a> in <a href="Gettysburg%2C_Pennsylvania" title="Gettysburg, Pennsylvania">Gettysburg, Pennsylvania</a>, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the <a href="American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>, four and a half months after the <a href="Union_(American_Civil_War)" title="Union (American Civil War)">Union</a> armies defeated those of the <a href="Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederacy</a> at the decisive <a href="Battle_of_Gettysburg" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Battle of Gettysburg</a>.
Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the <a href="United_States_Declaration_of_Independence" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of Independence</a> and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the <a href="United_States" title="United States">Union</a>, but as "a new birth of <a href="Political_freedom" title="political freedom">freedom</a>" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which <a href="States'_rights" title="states' rights">states' rights</a> were no longer dominant.
Beginning with the now-iconic phrase, <i>Four <a href="20_(number)" title="20 (number)">score</a> and seven years ago ...</i>, Lincoln referred to the events of the <a href="American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">Civil War</a> and described the ceremony at Gettysburg as an opportunity not only to consecrate the grounds of a cemetery, but also to dedicate the living to the struggle to ensure that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".<sup id="_ref-155" class="reference"><a href="#_note-155" title="">[155]</a></sup></p>
<a id="1864_election" name="1864_election"/><h3>1864 election</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
<a class="internal" href="File:ElectoralCollege1864.svg.png" title="1864 Presidential election results"><img src="ElectoralCollege1864.svg.png" alt="1864 Presidential election results" title="1864 Presidential election results" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">1864 Presidential election results</div>
After Union victories at <a href="Battle_of_Gettysburg" title="Battle of Gettysburg">Gettysburg</a>, <a href="Siege_of_Vicksburg" title="Siege of Vicksburg">Vicksburg</a>, and <a href="Chattanooga_Campaign" title="Chattanooga Campaign">Chattanooga</a> in 1863, overall victory seemed at hand, and Lincoln promoted <a href="Ulysses_S._Grant" title="Ulysses S. Grant">Ulysses S. Grant</a> General-in-Chief on March 12, 1864. When the spring campaigns turned into bloody stalemates, Lincoln supported Grant's strategy of wearing down <a href="Robert_E._Lee" title="Robert E. Lee">Lee's</a> Confederate army at the cost of heavy Union casualties. With an election looming, he easily defeated efforts to deny his renomination. At the Convention, the Republican Party selected <a href="Andrew_Johnson" title="Andrew Johnson">Andrew Johnson</a>, a <a href="War_Democrats" title="War Democrats">War Democrat</a> from the Southern state of Tennessee, as his running mate in order to form a broader coalition. They ran on the new <a href="National_Union_Party_(United_States)" title="National Union Party (United States)">Union Party</a> ticket uniting Republicans and War Democrats.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Republicans across the country feared that Lincoln would be defeated. Acknowledging this fear, Lincoln wrote and signed a pledge that, if he should lose the election, he would still defeat the Confederacy before turning over the White House:<sup id="_ref-156" class="reference"><a href="#_note-156" title="">[156]</a></sup></p>
<p>{{quote}}</p>
<p>Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them to sign the sealed envelope.
While the Democratic platform followed the <a href="Copperheads_(politics)" title="Copperheads (politics)">Peace wing</a> of the party and called the war a "failure," their candidate, General <a href="George_B._McClellan" title="George B. McClellan">George B. McClellan</a>, supported the war and repudiated the platform.
Lincoln provided Grant with new replacements and mobilized his party to support Grant and win local support for the war effort. <a href="William_Tecumseh_Sherman" title="William Tecumseh Sherman">Sherman's</a> capture of <a href="Atlanta" title="Atlanta">Atlanta</a> in September ended defeatist jitters; the Democratic Party was deeply split, with some leaders and most soldiers openly for Lincoln; the Union party was united and energized, and Lincoln was easily reelected in a landslide. He won all but three states, including 78% of the Union soldiers' vote.<sup id="_ref-157" class="reference"><a href="#_note-157" title="">[157]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-158" class="reference"><a href="#_note-158" title="">[158]</a></sup></p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Lincoln_second.jpg" title="The only known photographs of Lincoln giving a speech were taken as he delivered his second inaugural address. Here, he stands in the center, with papers in his hand."><img src="Lincoln_second.jpg" alt="The only known photographs of Lincoln giving a speech were taken as he delivered his second inaugural address. Here, he stands in the center, with papers in his hand." title="The only known photographs of Lincoln giving a speech were taken as he delivered his second inaugural address. Here, he stands in the center, with papers in his hand." class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">The only known photographs of Lincoln giving a speech were taken as he delivered his second inaugural address. Here, he stands in the center, with papers in his hand.</div></p>
<a id="Second_Inaugural_Address" name="Second_Inaugural_Address"/><h3>Second Inaugural Address</h3>

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<p>On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his <a href="Lincoln's_second_inaugural_address" title="Lincoln's second inaugural address">second inaugural address</a>, his favorite of all his speeches. At this time, a victory over the rebels was at hand, slavery was dead, and Lincoln was looking to the future.
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<a id="Reconstruction" name="Reconstruction"/><h3>Reconstruction</h3>
<p>{{Main}}
Reconstruction began during the war as Lincoln and his associates pondered questions of how to reintegrate the Southern states and what to do with Confederate leaders and the freed slaves. Lincoln led the "moderates" regarding Reconstruction policy, and was usually opposed by the Radical Republicans, under <a href="Thaddeus_Stevens" title="Thaddeus Stevens">Thaddeus Stevens</a> in the House and <a href="Charles_Sumner" title="Charles Sumner">Charles Sumner</a> and <a href="Benjamin_Wade" title="Benjamin Wade">Benjamin Wade</a> in the Senate (though he cooperated with these men on most other issues). Determined to find a course that would reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held throughout the war in areas behind Union lines. His <a href="Ten_percent_plan" title="Ten percent plan">Amnesty Proclamation</a> of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office, had not mistreated Union prisoners, and would sign an oath of allegiance.<sup id="_ref-159" class="reference"><a href="#_note-159" title="">[159]</a></sup>
Critical decisions had to be made as state after state was reconquered. Of special importance were <a href="Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a>, where Lincoln appointed <a href="Andrew_Johnson" title="Andrew Johnson">Andrew Johnson</a> as governor, and <a href="Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>, where Lincoln attempted a plan that would restore statehood when 10% of the voters agreed to it. The Radicals thought this policy too lenient, and passed their own plan, the <a href="Wade-Davis_Bill" title="Wade-Davis Bill">Wade-Davis Bill</a>, in 1864. When Lincoln <a href="Pocket_veto" title="pocket veto">pocket vetoed</a> the bill, the Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat representatives elected from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.<sup id="_ref-160" class="reference"><a href="#_note-160" title="">[160]</a></sup></p>
<p>Near the end of the war, Lincoln made an extended visit to Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia. This allowed the president to confer in person with Grant and Sherman about ending hostilities (as Sherman managed a hasty visit to Grant from his forces in North Carolina at the same time);<sup id="_ref-161" class="reference"><a href="#_note-161" title="">[161]</a></sup>
Lincoln also was able to visit Richmond after it was taken by the Union forces and to make a public gesture of sitting at <a href="Jefferson_Davis" title="Jefferson Davis">Jefferson Davis'</a> own desk, symbolically saying to the nation that the President of the United States held authority over the entire land. He was greeted at the city as a conquering hero by freed slaves, whose sentiments were epitomized by one admirer's quote, "I know I am free for I have seen the face of Father Abraham and have felt him." When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates should be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy."<sup id="_ref-162" class="reference"><a href="#_note-162" title="">[162]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-163" class="reference"><a href="#_note-163" title="">[163]</a></sup>
Lincoln arrived back in Washington on the evening of April 9, 1865, the day Lee surrendered at <a href="Appomattox_Court_House_National_Historical_Park" title="Appomattox Court House National Historical Park">Appomattox Court House</a> in Virginia. The war was effectively over. The other rebel armies surrendered soon after, and there was no subsequent guerrilla warfare.<sup id="_ref-164" class="reference"><a href="#_note-164" title="">[164]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Home_front" name="Home_front"/><h2>Home front</h2>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Lincoln-Warren-1865-03-06.jpeg" title="The last known high-quality photograph of Lincoln, taken March 1865"><img src="Lincoln-Warren-1865-03-06.jpeg" alt="The last known high-quality photograph of Lincoln, taken March 1865" title="The last known high-quality photograph of Lincoln, taken March 1865" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">The last known high-quality photograph of Lincoln, taken March 1865</div>
</p><a id="Redefining_Republicanism" name="Redefining_Republicanism"/><h3>Redefining Republicanism</h3>
<p>Lincoln's <a href="Rhetoric" title="rhetoric">rhetoric</a> defined the issues of the war for the nation, the world, and posterity. The <a href="Gettysburg_Address" title="Gettysburg Address">Gettysburg Address</a> defied Lincoln's own prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." His second inaugural address is also greatly admired and often quoted.
In recent years, historians have stressed Lincoln's use of and redefinition of <a href="Republicanism_in_the_United_States" title="Republicanism in the United States">republican values</a>. As early as the 1850s, a time when most political rhetoric focused on the sanctity of the <a href="United_States_Constitution" title="United States Constitution">Constitution</a>, Lincoln shifted emphasis to the <a href="United_States_Declaration_of_Independence" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of Independence</a> as the foundation of American political values—what he called the "sheet anchor" of republicanism.<sup id="_ref-165" class="reference"><a href="#_note-165" title="">[165]</a></sup>
The Declaration's emphasis on freedom and equality for all, rather than the Constitution's tolerance of slavers, shifted the debate. As Diggins concludes regarding the highly influential <a href="Cooper_Union_speech" title="Cooper Union speech">Cooper Union speech</a>, "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself."<sup id="_ref-166" class="reference"><a href="#_note-166" title="">[166]</a></sup>
His position gained strength because he highlighted the moral basis of republicanism, rather than its legalisms.<sup id="_ref-167" class="reference"><a href="#_note-167" title="">[167]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-168" class="reference"><a href="#_note-168" title="">[168]</a></sup>
Nevertheless, in 1861 Lincoln justified the war in terms of legalisms (the Constitution was a contract, and for one party to get out of a contract all the other parties had to agree), and then in terms of the national duty to guarantee a "republican form of government" in every state.<sup id="_ref-169" class="reference"><a href="#_note-169" title="">[169]</a></sup>
That duty was also the principle underlying federal intervention in <a href="Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States" title="Reconstruction era of the United States">Reconstruction</a>.
In his <a href="Gettysburg_Address" title="Gettysburg Address">Gettysburg Address</a> Lincoln redefined the American nation, arguing that it was born not in 1789 but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He declared that the sacrifices of battle had rededicated the nation to the propositions of democracy and equality, "that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." By emphasizing the centrality of the nation, he rebuffed the claims of <a href="Sovereignty" title="sovereignty">state sovereignty</a>. While some critics say Lincoln moved too far and too fast, they agree that he dedicated the nation to values that marked "a new founding of the nation."<sup id="_ref-170" class="reference"><a href="#_note-170" title="">[170]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Civil_liberties_suspended" name="Civil_liberties_suspended"/><h3>Civil liberties suspended</h3>
<p>During the Civil War, Lincoln appropriated powers no previous President had wielded: he used his war powers to proclaim a <a href="Union_blockade" title="Union blockade">blockade</a>, suspended the writ of <a href="Habeas_corpus" title="habeas corpus">habeas corpus</a>, spent money before Congress appropriated it, and imprisoned between 15,000 and 18,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial.<sup id="_ref-171" class="reference"><a href="#_note-171" title="">[171]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Domestic_measures" name="Domestic_measures"/><h3>Domestic measures</h3>
<p>Lincoln believed in the Whig theory of the presidency, which left Congress to write the laws while he signed them; Lincoln only exercised his <a href="Veto" title="veto">veto power</a> only four times, the only significant instance being his pocket veto of the Wade-Davis Bill.<sup id="_ref-172" class="reference"><a href="#_note-172" title="">[172]</a></sup> Thus, he signed the <a href="Homestead_Act" title="Homestead Act">Homestead Act</a> in 1862, making millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for purchase at very low cost. The <a href="Morrill_Land-Grant_Colleges_Act" title="Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act">Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act</a>, also signed in 1862, provided government grants for state agricultural colleges in each state. The <a href="Pacific_Railway_Acts" title="Pacific Railway Acts">Pacific Railway Acts</a> of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' <a href="First_Transcontinental_Railroad" title="First Transcontinental Railroad">First Transcontinental Railroad</a>, which was completed in 1869.<sup id="_ref-173" class="reference"><a href="#_note-173" title="">[173]</a></sup></p>
<p>Other important legislation involved two measures to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a Federal income tax (which was new). In 1861, Lincoln signed the second and third <a href="Morrill_Tariff" title="Morrill Tariff">Morrill Tariff</a> (the first had become law under <a href="James_Buchanan" title="James Buchanan">James Buchanan</a>). In 1861, Lincoln signed the <a href="Revenue_Act_of_1861" title="Revenue Act of 1861">Revenue Act of 1861</a><sup id="_ref-174" class="reference"><a href="#_note-174" title="">[174]</a></sup> creating the first U.S. <a href="Income_tax" title="income tax">income tax</a>. This created a <a href="Flat_tax" title="flat tax">flat tax</a> of 3% on incomes above $800 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|800|1861}}}} in current dollars), which was later changed by the <a href="Revenue_Act_of_1862" title="Revenue Act of 1862">Revenue Act of 1862</a><sup id="_ref-175" class="reference"><a href="#_note-175" title="">[175]</a></sup> to a progressive rate structure.<sup id="_ref-176" class="reference"><a href="#_note-176" title="">[176]</a></sup> </p>
<p>Lincoln also presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in several other areas. The creation of the system of national banks by the <a href="National_Banking_Act" title="National Banking Act">National Banking Acts</a> of 1863, 1864, and 1865 allowed the creation of a strong national financial system. In 1862, Congress created, with Lincoln's approval, the <a href="United_States_Department_of_Agriculture" title="United States Department of Agriculture">Department of Agriculture</a>, although that institution would not become a Cabinet-level department until 1889. The Legal Tender Act of 1862 established the <a href="United_States_Note" title="United States Note">United States Note</a>, the first <a href="Banknote" title="banknote">paper currency</a> in United States history since the <a href="Continental_(currency)" title="Continental (currency)">Continentals</a> that were issued during the <a href="American_Revolutionary_War" title="American Revolutionary War">Revolution</a>. This was done to increase the money supply to pay for fighting the war. </p>
<p>In 1862, Lincoln sent a senior general, <a href="John_Pope_(military_officer)" title="John Pope (military officer)">John Pope</a>, to put down the "<a href="Dakota_War_of_1862" title="Dakota War of 1862">Sioux Uprising</a>" in <a href="Minnesota" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a>. Presented with 303 <a href="Execution_warrant" title="execution warrant">death warrants</a> for convicted <a href="Sioux#Isanti_(Santee_or_Dakota)" title="Sioux">Santee Dakota</a> who were accused of killing innocent farmers, Lincoln ordered a personal review of these warrants, eventually approving 39 of these for <a href="Death_penalty" title="death penalty">execution</a> (one was later <a href="Pardon" title="pardon">reprieved</a>).<sup id="_ref-177" class="reference"><a href="#_note-177" title="">[177]</a></sup></p>
<p>Abraham Lincoln is largely responsible for the institution of the <a href="Thanksgiving_(United_States)" title="Thanksgiving (United States)">Thanksgiving holiday</a> in the United States. Prior to Lincoln's presidency, Thanksgiving, while a regional holiday in New England since the 17th century, had only been proclaimed by the federal government sporadically, and on irregular dates. The last such proclamation was during <a href="James_Madison" title="James Madison">James Madison's</a> presidency fifty years before. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving, and the holiday has been celebrated annually then ever since.<sup id="_ref-178" class="reference"><a href="#_note-178" title="">[178]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Assassination" name="Assassination"/><h2>Assassination</h2>
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<a class="internal" href="Image:The_Assassination_of_President_Lincoln_-_Currier_and_Ives_2.png" title="The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth"><img src="The_Assassination_of_President_Lincoln_-_Currier_and_Ives_2.png" alt="The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth" title="The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth" class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: <a href="Henry_Rathbone" title="Henry Rathbone">Henry Rathbone</a>, <a href="Clara_Harris" title="Clara Harris">Clara Harris</a>, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln and <a href="John_Wilkes_Booth" title="John Wilkes Booth">John Wilkes Booth</a></div>
Originally, <a href="John_Wilkes_Booth" title="John Wilkes Booth">John Wilkes Booth</a>, a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland, had formulated a plan to <a href="Kidnapping" title="kidnapping">kidnap</a> Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. After attending an April 11 speech in which Lincoln promoted voting rights for blacks, an incensed Booth changed his plans and determined to assassinate the president.<sup id="_ref-179" class="reference"><a href="#_note-179" title="">[179]</a></sup></p>
<p>Learning that the President and <a href="First_Lady_of_the_United_States" title="First Lady of the United States">First Lady</a> would be attending <a href="Ford's_Theatre" title="Ford's Theatre">Ford's Theatre</a>, he laid his plans, assigning his co-conspirators to assassinate <a href="Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States">Vice President</a> <a href="Andrew_Johnson" title="Andrew Johnson">Andrew Johnson</a> and <a href="United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State">Secretary of State</a> <a href="William_H._Seward" title="William H. Seward">William H. Seward</a>.
Without his main bodyguard <a href="Ward_Hill_Lamon" title="Ward Hill Lamon">Ward Hill Lamon</a>, to whom he related his famous dream regarding his own assassination, Lincoln left to attend the play <i><a href="Our_American_Cousin" title="Our American Cousin">Our American Cousin</a></i> on April 14, 1865. As a lone bodyguard wandered, and Lincoln sat in his state box (Box 7) in the balcony, Booth crept up behind the President and waited for what he thought would be the funniest line of the play ("You sock-dologizing old man-trap"), hoping the laughter would muffle the noise of the gunshot. When the laughter began, Booth jumped into the box and aimed a single-shot, round-slug 0.44 caliber Deringer at his head, firing at point-blank range. Major <a href="Henry_Rathbone" title="Henry Rathbone">Henry Rathbone</a> momentarily grappled with Booth but was cut by Booth's knife. Booth then leaped to the stage and shouted "<i><a href="Sic_semper_tyrannis" title="Sic semper tyrannis">Sic semper tyrannis</a>!</i>" ({{lang-la}}) and escaped, despite a broken leg suffered in the leap.<sup id="_ref-180" class="reference"><a href="#_note-180" title="">[180]</a></sup>
A twelve-day manhunt ensued, in which Booth was chased by Federal agents (under the direction of <a href="United_States_Secretary_of_War" title="United States Secretary of War">Secretary of War</a> <a href="Edwin_M._Stanton" title="Edwin M. Stanton">Edwin M. Stanton</a>).<sup id="_ref-181" class="reference"><a href="#_note-181" title="">[181]</a></sup> He was eventually cornered in a Virginia barn house and shot, dying of his wounds soon after.<sup id="_ref-182" class="reference"><a href="#_note-182" title="">[182]</a></sup>
<a class="internal" href="Image:LincolnTrain.jpeg" title="Lincoln's funeral train carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners and the casket of his son, William, {{convert}} to Illinois"><img src="LincolnTrain.jpeg" alt="Lincoln's funeral train carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners and the casket of his son, William, {{convert}} to Illinois" title="Lincoln's funeral train carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners and the casket of his son, William, {{convert}} to Illinois" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Lincoln's <a href="Funeral_train" title="funeral train">funeral train</a> carried his remains, as well as 300 mourners and the casket of his son, William, {{convert}} to Illinois</div>
An army surgeon, Doctor <a href="Charles_Leale" title="Charles Leale">Charles Leale</a>, initially assessed Lincoln's wound as <a href="Mortal_wound" title="Mortal wound">mortal</a>. The President was taken across the street from the theater to the <a href="Petersen_House" title="Petersen House">Petersen House</a>, where he lay in a coma for nine hours before dying. Several physicians attended Lincoln, including <a href="Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States_Army" title="Surgeon General of the United States Army">U.S. Army Surgeon General</a> <a href="Joseph_Barnes" title="Joseph Barnes">Joseph K. Barnes</a> of the <a href="National_Museum_of_Health_and_Medicine" title="National Museum of Health and Medicine">Army Medical Museum</a>. Using a probe, Barnes located some fragments of Lincoln's skull and the ball lodged {{convert}} inside his brain. Lincoln never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at 7:22:10 a.m. April 15, 1865. He was the first president to be assassinated or to <a href="Lying_in_state" title="Lying in state">lie in state</a>.
Lincoln's body was carried by train in a grand funeral procession through several states on its way back to Illinois.<sup id="_ref-183" class="reference"><a href="#_note-183" title="">[183]</a></sup> While much of the nation mourned him as the savior of the United States, <a href="Copperheads_(politics)" title="copperheads (politics)">Copperheads</a> celebrated the death of a man they considered a tyrant. The <a href="Lincoln_Tomb" title="Lincoln Tomb">Lincoln Tomb</a> in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, is {{convert}} tall and, by 1874, was surmounted with several bronze statues of Lincoln. To prevent repeated attempts to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, <a href="Robert_Todd_Lincoln" title="Robert Todd Lincoln">Robert Todd Lincoln</a> had it <a href="Burial#Exhumation" title="Burial">exhumed</a> and reinterred in concrete several feet thick in 1901.
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<a id="Administration.2C_Cabinet_and_Supreme_Court_appointments_1861.E2.80.931865" name="Administration.2C_Cabinet_and_Supreme_Court_appointments_1861.E2.80.931865"/><h2>Administration, Cabinet and Supreme Court appointments 1861–1865</h2>
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<p>{{Col-1-of-2}}
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<div style="page-break-inside: avoid;">
<table cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4" style="margin:3px; border:3px solid Black; float:left;">
<tr>
<th bgcolor="#dcdcdc" colspan="3">The Lincoln Cabinet</th></tr>
<tr>
<td align="left"><b>OFFICE</b></td>
<td align="left"><b>NAME</b></td>
<td align="left"><b>TERM</b></td></tr>
<tr>
<th bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"/></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="President_of_the_United_States" title="President of the United States">President</a> </td>
<td><b>Abraham Lincoln</b> </td>
<td>1861–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States">Vice President</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Hannibal_Hamlin" title="Hannibal Hamlin">Hannibal Hamlin</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="Andrew_Johnson" title="Andrew Johnson">Andrew Johnson</a></b> </td>
<td>1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<th bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"/></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State">State</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="William_H._Seward" title="William H. Seward">William H. Seward</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Secretary_of_War" title="United States Secretary of War">War</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Simon_Cameron" title="Simon Cameron">Simon Cameron</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1862</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="Edwin_M._Stanton" title="Edwin M. Stanton">Edwin M. Stanton</a></b> </td>
<td>1862–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Secretary_of_the_Treasury" title="United States Secretary of the Treasury">Treasury</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Salmon_P._Chase" title="Salmon P. Chase">Salmon P. Chase</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1864</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="William_P._Fessenden" title="William P. Fessenden">William P. Fessenden</a></b> </td>
<td>1864–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="Hugh_McCulloch" title="Hugh McCulloch">Hugh McCulloch</a></b> </td>
<td>1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Attorney_General_of_the_United_States" title="Attorney General of the United States">Justice</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Edward_Bates" title="Edward Bates">Edward Bates</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1864</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="James_Speed" title="James Speed">James Speed</a></b> </td>
<td>1864–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Postmaster_General" title="United States Postmaster General">Post</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Montgomery_Blair" title="Montgomery Blair">Montgomery Blair</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1864</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="William_Dennison%2C_Jr." title="William Dennison, Jr.">William Dennison, Jr.</a></b> </td>
<td>1864–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Secretary_of_the_Navy" title="United States Secretary of the Navy">Navy</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Gideon_Welles" title="Gideon Welles">Gideon Welles</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1865</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior" title="United States Secretary of the Interior">Interior</a> </td>
<td><b><a href="Caleb_B._Smith" title="Caleb B. Smith">Caleb B. Smith</a></b> </td>
<td>1861–1862</td></tr>
<tr>
<td/>
<td><b><a href="John_P._Usher" title="John P. Usher">John P. Usher</a></b> </td>
<td>1863–1865</td></tr></table></div>
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<a class="internal" href="Image:Al16.jpg" title="Official White House portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy"><img src="Al16.jpg" alt="Official White House portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy" title="Official White House portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy" class="location-center type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Official White House portrait of Abraham Lincoln by <a href="George_P.A._Healy" title="George P.A. Healy">George Peter Alexander Healy</a></div>
Lincoln appointed the following Justices to the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a>:
</p>
<div style="page-break-inside: avoid;">
<table class="sortable wikitable">
<tr bgcolor="#ececec">
<td><b>Judge</b></td>
<td><b>Seat</b></td>
<td><b>State</b></td>
<td><b>Began active<br/>service</b></td>
<td><b>Ended active<br/>service</b></td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Noah_Haynes_Swayne" title="Noah Haynes Swayne">Noah Haynes Swayne</a> </td>
<td>Seat 7 </td>
<td><a href="Virginia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a> </td>
<td><span>18620127</span>January 27, 1862 </td>
<td><span>18810124</span>January 24, 1881</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Samuel_Freeman_Miller" title="Samuel Freeman Miller">Samuel Freeman Miller</a> </td>
<td>Seat 8 </td>
<td><a href="Maine" title="Maine">Maine</a> </td>
<td><span>18620721</span>July 21, 1862 </td>
<td><span>18901013</span>October 13, 1890</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="David_Davis_(Supreme_Court_justice)" title="David Davis (Supreme Court justice)">David Davis</a> </td>
<td>Seat 9 </td>
<td><a href="Maryland" title="Maryland">Maryland</a> </td>
<td><span>18621210</span>December 10, 1862 </td>
<td><span>18770304</span>March 4, 1877</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Stephen_Johnson_Field" title="Stephen Johnson Field">Stephen Johnson Field</a> </td>
<td>Seat 10 </td>
<td><a href="California" title="California">California</a> </td>
<td><span>18630520</span>May 20, 1863 </td>
<td><span>18971201</span>December 1, 1897</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="Salmon_P._Chase" title="Salmon P. Chase">Salmon P. Chase</a> </td>
<td>Seat 1 </td>
<td><a href="New_Hampshire" title="New Hampshire">New Hampshire</a> </td>
<td><span>18641215</span>December 15, 1864 </td>
<td><span>18730507</span>May 7, 1873</td></tr></table></div>

<p>{{Col-end}}</p>
<a id="States_admitted_to_the_Union" name="States_admitted_to_the_Union"/><h2>States admitted to the Union</h2>

<ul>
<li><a href="West_Virginia" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a> – <a href="June_20" title="June 20">June 20</a>, <a href="1863" title="1863">1863</a></li>
<li><a href="Nevada" title="Nevada">Nevada</a> – <a href="October_31" title="October 31">October 31</a>, <a href="1864" title="1864">1864</a></li></ul>

<a id="Religious_and_philosophical_beliefs" name="Religious_and_philosophical_beliefs"/><h2>Religious and philosophical beliefs</h2>
<p>{{See}}
In March 1860 in a speech in <a href="New_Haven%2C_Connecticut" title="New Haven, Connecticut">New Haven</a>, <a href="Connecticut" title="Connecticut">Connecticut</a>, Lincoln said, regarding slavery, “Whenever this question shall be settled, it must be settled on some philosophical basis. No policy that does not rest upon some philosophical public opinion can be permanently maintained." The philosophical basis for Lincoln’s beliefs regarding slavery and other issues of the day require that Lincoln be examined "seriously as a man of ideas." Lincoln was a strong supporter of the American <a href="Whig_Party_(United_States)" title="Whig Party (United States)">Whig</a> version of <a href="Liberalism" title="liberalism">liberal</a> <a href="Capitalism" title="capitalism">capitalism</a> who, more than most politicians of the time, was able to express his ideas within the context of Nineteenth Century religious beliefs.<sup id="_ref-184" class="reference"><a href="#_note-184" title="">[184]</a></sup></p>
<p>There were few people who strongly or directly influenced Lincoln’s moral and intellectual development and perspectives. There was no teacher, mentor, church leader, community leader, or peer that Lincoln would credit in later years as a strong influence on his intellectual development. Lacking a formal education, Lincoln’s personal philosophy was shaped by "an amazingly retentive memory and a passion for reading and learning." It was Lincoln’s reading, rather than his relationships, that were most influential in shaping his personal beliefs.<sup id="_ref-zsafth_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-zsafth" title="">[185]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-186" class="reference"><a href="#_note-186" title="">[186]</a></sup></p>
<p>Even as a child, Lincoln largely rejected <a href="Religion" title="religion">organized religion</a>, but the <a href="Calvinism" title="Calvinism">Calvinistic</a> "doctrine of necessity" would remain a factor throughout his life. In 1846 Lincoln described the effect of this doctrine as "that the human mind is impelled to action, or held in rest by some power, over which the mind itself has no control."<sup id="_ref-187" class="reference"><a href="#_note-187" title="">[187]</a></sup>
In April 1864, in justifying his actions regarding Emancipation, Lincoln wrote, "I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it."<sup id="_ref-188" class="reference"><a href="#_note-188" title="">[188]</a></sup></p>
<p>As Lincoln matured, and especially during his term as president, the idea of a divine will somehow interacting with human affairs increasingly influenced his public expressions. On a personal level, the death of his son Willie in February 1862 may have caused Lincoln to look towards religion for answers and solace.<sup id="_ref-189" class="reference"><a href="#_note-189" title="">[189]</a></sup>
After Willie’s death, in the summer or early fall of 1862, Lincoln attempted to put on paper his private musings on why, from a divine standpoint, the severity of the war was necessary:
{{quote}}
Lincoln’s religious <a href="Skepticism" title="skepticism">skepticism</a> was fueled by his exposure to the ideas of the <a href="John_Locke" title="John Locke">Lockean</a> <a href="Age_of_Enlightenment" title="Age of Enlightenment">Enlightenment</a> and classical liberalism, especially <a href="Economic_liberalism" title="economic liberalism">economic liberalism</a>.<sup id="_ref-zsafth_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-zsafth" title="">[185]</a></sup> Consistent with the common practice of the Whig party, Lincoln would often use the <a href="United_States_Declaration_of_Independence" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of Independence</a> as the philosophical and moral expression of these two philosophies.<sup id="_ref-190" class="reference"><a href="#_note-190" title="">[190]</a></sup>
In a February 22, 1861 speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia Lincoln said,
{{quote}}
He found in the Declaration justification for Whig economic policy and opposition to territorial expansion and the <a href="Nativism_(politics)" title="nativism (politics)">nativist</a> platform of the <a href="Know_Nothing" title="Know Nothing">Know Nothings</a>. In claiming that all men were created free, Lincoln and the Whigs argued that this freedom required economic advancement, expanded education, territory to grow, and the ability of the nation to absorb the growing immigrant population.<sup id="_ref-191" class="reference"><a href="#_note-191" title="">[191]</a></sup></p>
<p>It was the Declaration of Independence, rather than the <a href="Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a>, that Lincoln most relied on to oppose any further territorial expansion of slavery. He saw the Declaration as more than a political document. To him, as well as to many abolitionists and other antislavery leaders, it was, foremost, a moral document that had forever determined valuable criteria in shaping the future of the nation.<sup id="_ref-192" class="reference"><a href="#_note-192" title="">[192]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Legacy_and_memorials" name="Legacy_and_memorials"/><h2>Legacy and memorials</h2>
<p>{{See}}
<a class="internal" href="Image:TheApotheosisLincolnAndWashington1860s.jpg" title="The Apotheosis of Abraham Lincoln, greeted by George Washington in heaven (an 1860s work)"><img src="TheApotheosisLincolnAndWashington1860s.jpg" alt="The Apotheosis of Abraham Lincoln, greeted by George Washington in heaven (an 1860s work)" title="The Apotheosis of Abraham Lincoln, greeted by George Washington in heaven (an 1860s work)" class="location-none type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption"><i>The Apotheosis</i> of Abraham Lincoln, greeted by <a href="George_Washington" title="George Washington">George Washington</a> in heaven (an 1860s work)</div></p>
<p>Lincoln's death made the President a national <a href="Martyr" title="martyr">martyr</a>.<sup id="_ref-193" class="reference"><a href="#_note-193" title="">[193]</a></sup> Repeated polls of historians have ranked Lincoln as among the <a href="Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents" title="Historical rankings of United States Presidents">greatest presidents in U.S. history</a>, with Lincoln usually in the top three along with George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt.<sup id="_ref-194" class="reference"><a href="#_note-194" title="">[194]</a></sup> A study published in 2004, found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked Lincoln number one, while law scholars placed him second after Washington.<sup id="_ref-195" class="reference"><a href="#_note-195" title="">[195]</a></sup> Among contemporary admirers, Lincoln is usually seen as personifying classical values of honesty and integrity, as well as respect for individual and minority rights, and human freedom in general.
Many American organizations of all purposes and agendas continue to cite his name and image, with interests ranging from the <a href="LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States" title="LGBT rights in the United States">gay rights</a>-supporting <a href="Log_Cabin_Republicans" title="Log Cabin Republicans">Log Cabin Republicans</a> to the <a href="Insurance" title="insurance">insurance</a> corporation <a href="Lincoln_National_Corporation" title="Lincoln National Corporation">Lincoln National Corporation</a>. The <a href="Lincoln_(automobile)" title="Lincoln (automobile)">Lincoln automobile brand</a> is also named after him.</p>
<p>The <a href="Ballistic_missile_submarine" title="ballistic missile submarine">ballistic missile submarine</a> <a href="USS_Abraham_Lincoln_(SSBN-602)" title="USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602)"><i>Abraham Lincoln</i> (SSBN-602)</a> and the <a href="Aircraft_carrier" title="aircraft carrier">aircraft carrier</a> <a href="USS_Abraham_Lincoln_(CVN-72)" title="USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)"><i>Abraham Lincoln</i> (CVN-72)</a> were named in his honor.<sup id="_ref-196" class="reference"><a href="#_note-196" title="">[196]</a></sup> During the <a href="Spanish_Civil_War" title="Spanish Civil War">Spanish Civil War</a>, the American faction of the <a href="International_Brigades" title="International Brigades">International Brigades</a> named themselves the <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Brigade" title="Abraham Lincoln Brigade">Abraham Lincoln Brigade</a>.<sup id="_ref-197" class="reference"><a href="#_note-197" title="">[197]</a></sup> Lincoln has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names,<sup id="_ref-Dennis_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Dennis" title="">[198]</a></sup> including the <a href="Lincoln%2C_Nebraska" title="Lincoln, Nebraska">capital of Nebraska</a>.<sup id="_ref-Boritt_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Boritt" title="">[199]</a></sup> <a href="Lincoln%2C_Illinois" title="Lincoln, Illinois">Lincoln, Illinois</a>, is the only city to be named for Abraham Lincoln before he became President.<sup id="_ref-200" class="reference"><a href="#_note-200" title="">[200]</a></sup></p>
<p>Lincoln's name and image appear in numerous places. These include the <a href="Lincoln_Memorial" title="Lincoln Memorial">Lincoln Memorial</a> in Washington, D.C.,<sup id="_ref-Boritt_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Boritt" title="">[199]</a></sup> the U.S. <a href="United_States_five-dollar_bill" title="United States five-dollar bill">Lincoln $5 bill</a> and the <a href="Lincoln_cent" title="Lincoln cent">Lincoln cent</a>, Lincoln's sculpture on <a href="Mount_Rushmore" title="Mount Rushmore">Mount Rushmore</a>, and the <a href="Lincoln_Home_National_Historic_Site" title="Lincoln Home National Historic Site">Lincoln Home National Historic Site</a> in Springfield, Illinois.<sup id="_ref-201" class="reference"><a href="#_note-201" title="">[201]</a></sup> In addition, <a href="New_Salem%2C_Menard_County%2C_Illinois" title="New Salem, Menard County, Illinois">New Salem, Illinois</a> (a reconstruction of Lincoln's early adult hometown),<sup id="_ref-202" class="reference"><a href="#_note-202" title="">[202]</a></sup> <a href="Ford's_Theatre" title="Ford's Theatre">Ford's Theatre</a>, and Petersen House (where he died) are all preserved as museums.<sup id="_ref-203" class="reference"><a href="#_note-203" title="">[203]</a></sup> The <a href="List_of_U.S._state_nicknames" title="List of U.S. state nicknames">state nickname</a> for Illinois is <i>Land of Lincoln</i>; the slogan has appeared continuously on nearly all <a href="Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Illinois" title="Vehicle registration plates of Illinois">Illinois license plates</a> issued since 1954.<sup id="_ref-204" class="reference"><a href="#_note-204" title="">[204]</a></sup></p>
<p>Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a national holiday, but it was observed by 30 states.<sup id="_ref-Dennis_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Dennis" title="">[198]</a></sup> In 1971, <a href="Presidents_Day_(United_States)" title="Presidents Day (United States)">Presidents Day</a> became a national holiday, combining Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays, and replacing most states' celebration of his birthday.<sup id="_ref-205" class="reference"><a href="#_note-205" title="">[205]</a></sup> As of 2005, Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in 10 states.<sup id="_ref-206" class="reference"><a href="#_note-206" title="">[206]</a></sup> The <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Association" title="Abraham Lincoln Association">Abraham Lincoln Association</a> was formed in 1908 to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln's birth.<sup id="_ref-207" class="reference"><a href="#_note-207" title="">[207]</a></sup> The Association is now the oldest group dedicated to the study of Lincoln.<sup id="_ref-208" class="reference"><a href="#_note-208" title="">[208]</a></sup></p>
<p>To commemorate his 200th birthday in February 2009, Congress established the <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Bicentennial_Commission" title="Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission">Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission</a> (ALBC) in 2000 to honor Lincoln.<sup id="_ref-209" class="reference"><a href="#_note-209" title="">[209]</a></sup> Lincoln's birthplace and family home are national historic memorials: the <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Birthplace_National_Historic_Site" title="Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site">Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site</a> in Hodgenville,<sup id="_ref-210" class="reference"><a href="#_note-210" title="">[210]</a></sup> and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois.<sup id="_ref-211" class="reference"><a href="#_note-211" title="">[211]</a></sup> The <a href="Abraham_Lincoln_Presidential_Library_and_Museum" title="Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum">Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum</a> is located in Springfield and is run by the State of Illinois.<sup id="_ref-212" class="reference"><a href="#_note-212" title="">[212]</a></sup></p>
<p>On March 11, 2009, the <a href="National_Museum_of_American_History" title="National Museum of American History">National Museum of American History</a> found a message engraved inside Lincoln's watch by a watchmaker named Jonathan Dillon who was repairing it at the outbreak of the <a href="American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">American Civil War</a>. The engraving reads (in part): "<a href="Fort_Sumpter" title="Fort Sumpter">Fort Sumpter</a> was attacked by the rebels" and "thank God we have a government."<sup id="_ref-213" class="reference"><a href="#_note-213" title="">[213]</a></sup></p>
<a id="See_also" name="See_also"/><h2>See also</h2>
<p>{{portal}}
{{portalpar}}
</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="Bibliography_of_Abraham_Lincoln" title="Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln">Bibliography of Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a href="American_School_(economics)" title="American School (economics)">American School</a>, Lincoln's economic views.</li>
<li><a href="Electoral_history_of_Abraham_Lincoln" title="Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln">Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a href="Lincoln_Boyhood_National_Memorial" title="Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial">Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial</a></li>
<li><a href="Lincoln_Kennedy_coincidences_urban_legend" title="Lincoln Kennedy coincidences urban legend">Lincoln Kennedy coincidences urban legend</a></li>
<li><a href="Lincoln_Memorial_University" title="Lincoln Memorial University">Lincoln Memorial University</a></li>
<li><a href="Lincoln_family_tree" title="Lincoln family tree">Lincoln family tree</a></li>
<li><a href="Abraham_Lincoln_(Morse_books)" title="Abraham Lincoln (Morse books)">John T. Morse's 2-volume biography of Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a href="Poetry_of_Abraham_Lincoln" title="Poetry of Abraham Lincoln">Poetry of Abraham Lincoln</a></li></ul>

<a id="References" name="References"/><h2>References</h2>
<p>{{Reflist}}</p>
<a id="Bibliography" name="Bibliography"/><h2>Bibliography</h2>
<p>{{Main}}</p>
<p>{{Refbegin}}</p>

<ul>
<li><cite id="Baker">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Boritt">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Carwardine">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Diggins">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Dirck">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Donald">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Donald2">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Fehrenbacher">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Foner">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Goodwin">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Grimsley">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Guelzo">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Harrison">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Harris">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Heidler">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Heidler2">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Holzer">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Holzer2">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Jaffa">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Lamb">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Basler1">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Basler2">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Lincoln">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Luthin">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="McGovern">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="McPherson1">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="McPherson2">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="McPherson3">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="McPherson4">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Mansch">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Miller">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Mitchell">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Neely">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Nevins1">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Nevins2">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Nevins3">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Oates">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Paludan">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Potter">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Prokopowicz">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Roland">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Sandburg">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Schreiner">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Thomas">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Thornton">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Vorenberg">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="White">{{cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Wills">{{Cite book}}</cite></li>
<li><cite id="Wilson">{{Cite book}}</cite></li></ul>

<p>{{Refend}}</p>
<a id="External_links" name="External_links"/><h2>External links</h2>
<p>{{sisterlinks}}
</p>
<ul>
<li>{{dmoz}}</li>
<li>{{dmoz}} – Speeches and writings</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/" rel="nofollow" title="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/">The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.knox.edu/lincolnstudies.xml" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.knox.edu/lincolnstudies.xml">Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.physical-lincoln.com/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_photographs" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.physical-lincoln.com/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_photographs">Photographs of Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li>{{CongBio}}</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.abrahamlincoln.org/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.abrahamlincoln.org/">The Lincoln Institute</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://illinoisharvest.grainger.uiuc.edu/digitized_books.asp?set=AL" rel="nofollow" title="http://illinoisharvest.grainger.uiuc.edu/digitized_books.asp?set=AL">Digitized books about Abraham Lincoln from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html">Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/prespoetry/al.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/prespoetry/al.html">Poetry written by Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html">Lincoln quotes collected by Roger Norton</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.alplm.org/home.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.alplm.org/home.html">The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum</a> Springfield, Illinois</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.lincolncottage.org/visit/index.htm" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.lincolncottage.org/visit/index.htm">President Lincoln’s Cottage</a></li>
<li>{{US patent}}—<i>Manner of Buoying Vessels</i>—A. Lincoln—1849</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.nps.gov/abli/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.nps.gov/abli/">National Park Service Abraham Lincoln birthplace</a> (includes good early history)</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://edsitement.neh.gov/spotlight.asp?id=138" rel="nofollow" title="http://edsitement.neh.gov/spotlight.asp?id=138">National Endowment for the Humanities Spotlight – Abraham Lincoln</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/">The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.nps.gov/linc/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.nps.gov/linc/">Lincoln Memorial</a> Washington, DC</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/" rel="nofollow" title="http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/">Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University Libraries</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/127liho/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/127liho/"><i>Lincoln Home National Historic Site: A Place of Growth and Memory,</i> lesson plan</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/126libo/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/126libo/"><i>Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: Forging Greatness during Lincoln's Youth,</i> lesson plan</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/presidents/lincoln/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/presidents/lincoln/">Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://millercenter.org/index.php/academic/americanpresident/lincoln" rel="nofollow" title="http://millercenter.org/index.php/academic/americanpresident/lincoln">Essay on Abraham Lincoln and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://fulltextarchive.com/pages/The-Entire-Writings-of-Lincoln1.php" rel="nofollow" title="http://fulltextarchive.com/pages/The-Entire-Writings-of-Lincoln1.php">The Entire Writings of Lincoln</a> including an introduction by Theodore Roosevelt</li></ul>

<p><b>Project Gutenberg eTexts</b>
</p>
<ul>
<li>List of {{gutenberg author}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}} includes major (and minor) state papers, but not speeches or letters</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}} {{cite web}} to 1856; coverage of national politics. {{cite web}} (1832 to 1901); covers 1856 to early 1861; coverage of national politics; part of 10 volume "life and times" by Lincoln's aides</li>
<li>{{cite book}} (1866 to 1954)</li>
<li>{{cite book}}; popular</li>
<li>{{cite book}}; a solid scholarly biography {{cite web}}{{cite web}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}; popular</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}; popular</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li></ul>

<p>{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef}}
{{s-ttl}}
{{s-aft}}
{{s-par}}
{{USRSB}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef}}
{{s-ttl}}
{{s-aft}}
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef}}
{{s-ttl}}
{{s-aft}}
{{end}}
{{Abraham Lincoln}}
{{US Presidents}}
{{USRepPresNominees}}
{{Lincoln cabinet}}
{{Black Hawk War (1832)}}</p>
<p>{{Persondata}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Abraham}}



























</p>
<p>{{Link FA}}
<a href="http://am.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%8A%A0%E1%89%A5%E1%88%AD%E1%88%80%E1%88%9D_%E1%88%8A%E1%8A%95%E1%8A%A8%E1%8A%95">am:አብርሀም ሊንከን</a>
<a href="http://ang.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ang:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86">ar:أبراهام لينكون</a>
<a href="http://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">an:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ast:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avraam_Linkoln">az:Avraam Linkoln</a>
<a href="http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE_%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A8">bn:আব্রাহাম লিংকন</a>
<a href="http://zh-min-nan.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">zh-min-nan:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD">be:Абрахам Лінкальн</a>
<a href="Bcl:Abraham_Lincoln" title="bcl:Abraham Lincoln">bcl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="Bar:Abraham_Lincoln" title="bar:Abraham Lincoln">bar:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">bs:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%B9%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%8A%D0%BB%D0%BD">bg:Ейбрахам Линкълн</a>
<a href="http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ca:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="Ceb:Abraham_Lincoln" title="ceb:Abraham Lincoln">ceb:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">cs:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://co.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">co:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">cy:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">da:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">de:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://dv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DE%87%DE%A6%DE%84%DE%B0%DE%83%DE%A6%DE%80%DE%A6%DE%89%DE%B0_%DE%8D%DE%A8%DE%82%DE%B0%DE%86%DE%A6%DE%82%DE%B0">dv:އަބްރަހަމް ލިންކަން</a>
<a href="http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">et:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%B2%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%AC%CE%BC_%CE%9B%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%BD">el:Αβραάμ Λίνκολν</a>
<a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">es:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">eo:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">eu:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A2%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%A9%D9%84%D9%86">fa:آبراهام لینکلن</a>
<a href="Hif:Abraham_Lincoln" title="hif:Abraham Lincoln">hif:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://fo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">fo:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">fr:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">fy:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ga:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://gv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">gv:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://gd.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">gd:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">gl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="Gan:%E4%BA%9E%E4%BC%AF%E6%8B%89%E7%BD%95%C2%B7%E6%9E%97%E8%82%AF" title="gan:亞伯拉罕·林肯">gan:亞伯拉罕·林肯</a>
<a href="Hak:%C3%82-pak-l%C3%A2-h%C3%B3n_L%C3%ACm-kh%C3%A9n" title="hak:Â-pak-lâ-hón Lìm-khén">hak:Â-pak-lâ-hón Lìm-khén</a>
<a href="http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%97%90%EC%9D%B4%EB%B8%8C%EB%9F%AC%ED%96%84_%EB%A7%81%EC%BB%A8">ko:에이브러햄 링컨</a>
<a href="http://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B1%D5%A2%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B4_%D4%BC%D5%AB%D5%B6%D6%84%D5%B8%D5%AC%D5%B6">hy:Աբրահամ Լինքոլն</a>
<a href="http://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%AE_%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8">hi:अब्राहम लिंकन</a>
<a href="http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">hr:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">io:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">id:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">is:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abramo_Lincoln">it:Abramo Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%94%D7%9D_%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9F">he:אברהם לינקולן</a>
<a href="http://jv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">jv:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%85%E0%B2%AC%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B0%E0%B2%B9%E0%B2%AE%E0%B3%8D_%E0%B2%B2%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%82%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%A8%E0%B3%8D">kn:ಅಬ್ರಹಮ್ ಲಿಂಕನ್</a>
<a href="Pam:Abraham_Lincoln" title="pam:Abraham Lincoln">pam:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%91%E1%83%A0%E1%83%90%E1%83%90%E1%83%9B_%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%99%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9A%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98">ka:აბრაამ ლინკოლნი</a>
<a href="http://sw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sw:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamus_Lincoln">la:Abrahamus Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahams_Linkolns">lv:Abrahams Linkolns</a>
<a href="http://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">lb:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">lt:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">hu:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD">mk:Абрахам Линколн</a>
<a href="http://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%85%E0%B4%AC%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B9%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%82_%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%99%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%A3%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D">ml:അബ്രഹാം ലിങ്കണ്‍</a>
<a href="http://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%AE_%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8">mr:अब्राहम लिंकन</a>
<a href="http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ms:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">nl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%8F%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AA%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3">ja:エイブラハム・リンカーン</a>
<a href="Nap:Abraham_Lincoln" title="nap:Abraham Lincoln">nap:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">no:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">nn:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://oc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">oc:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://uz.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">uz:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="Pnb:%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%81%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%D9%86%DA%A9%D9%86" title="pnb:ابراہام لنکن">pnb:ابراہام لنکن</a>
<a href="Pap:Abraham_Lincoln" title="pap:Abraham Lincoln">pap:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="Pms:Abraham_Lincoln" title="pms:Abraham Lincoln">pms:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://nds.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">nds:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">pl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">pt:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">ro:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://rm.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">rm:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://qu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">qu:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%2C_%D0%90%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%BC">ru:Линкольн, Авраам</a>
<a href="Sco:Abraham_Lincoln" title="sco:Abraham Lincoln">sco:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sq:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://scn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">scn:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">simple:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sk:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD">sr:Абрахам Линколн</a>
<a href="http://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sh:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">fi:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">sv:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">tl:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%99%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D">ta:ஆபிரகாம் லிங்க்கன்</a>
<a href="http://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%85%E0%B0%AC%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%B9%E0%B0%82_%E0%B0%B2%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%95%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8D">te:అబ్రహం లింకన్</a>
<a href="http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AE%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A1_%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%99">th:อับราฮัม ลิงเคิล์น</a>
<a href="http://tg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D2%B3%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD">tg:Авраҳам Линколн</a>
<a href="http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">tr:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC_%D0%9B%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD">uk:Абрахам Лінкольн</a>
<a href="http://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%81%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%D9%86%DA%A9%D9%86">ur:ابراہام لنکن</a>
<a href="http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln">vi:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="War:Abraham_Lincoln" title="war:Abraham Lincoln">war:Abraham Lincoln</a>
<a href="http://yi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%A2%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%9D_%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9F">yi:עברעהעם לינקולן</a>
<a href="Zh-yue:%E6%9E%97%E8%82%AF" title="zh-yue:林肯">zh-yue:林肯</a>
<a href="Bat-smg:Abrahams_L%C4%97nkuolns" title="bat-smg:Abrahams Lėnkuolns">bat-smg:Abrahams Lėnkuolns</a>
<a href="http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%9A%E4%BC%AF%E6%8B%89%E7%BD%95%C2%B7%E6%9E%97%E8%82%AF">zh:亚伯拉罕·林肯</a></p></text>
    </revision>
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