The life of Abraham Lincoln from birth to death

“The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God 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."

— Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), from The Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. He grew up in Hodgenville, Kentucky, and lived out in the wilderness. He was brought up doing chores, and had a special talent of using an axe at a young age. Upon attending an ABC school, Abraham learned how to read, write, and solve arithmetic problems. He and his family constantly had problems with the milk sick disease, which was the cause of the death of Abraham's mother. One of Abraham's first jobs as a young adult was to build a flatboat and take it down the Mississippi River loaded with cargo. From then on, his occupations seemed to be constantly changing(Blum, pp.12). Some of the other jobs he became involved in were a clerk in a general store in New Salem, served three months as a private, opening a general store in New Salem once again which failed after a couple months, state legislator of Illinois, and a series of other more political jobs. Abraham Lincoln married twice; first to Ann Rutledge and later as a result of her death e married Mary Todd Lincoln. They had four children, and only one reached adulthood. Lincoln's first real successful career was as a frontier lawyer, in which he earned about $1200 to $1500 a year(Blum, pp.12).

Eventually seeking higher political positions, he became a powerful young congressman. At this time in his life, her first began to have the opportunity to voice his opinions about slavery. He was very much against it, and supported Wilmot Proviso, which proposed that slavery be abolished from Mexico, and he formed other antislavery programs in Washington. Upon returning to his former job as a layer upon the end of his political term, he was able to become a master at the occupation. Around 1854, Abraham began to research the Kansas-Nebraska Act, for he was held an opposing viewpoint of what is stated. He believed the Act did not address how important it was that slavery be abolished, for it allowed people in these two territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Right after this, Lincoln began involving himself in more debates about slavery, while at the same ...