Follow Abraham Lincoln from a frontier cabin to the White House where he guided America through the Civil War
Follow Abraham Lincoln from a frontier cabin to the White House where he guided America through the Civil War
An overview of the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Abraham Lincoln—the 16th president of the United States—took office at a pivotal moment in American history. Deeply divided over the issues of slavery and states' rights, the country faced a civil war that pitted the North against the South. Lincoln stood firm in his determination to hold the Union together, which he accomplished by leading the North to victory. He also brought an end to slavery in the United States, earning the title of the Great Emancipator.
The future president came from humble beginnings. Born in 1809, in a log cabin on the American frontier, Lincoln spent much of his boyhood living the life of a pioneer. All told, he attended school for less than a year, but he educated himself by reading. As a boy he read history and literature by the light of a log fire. As a young man he taught himself mathematics so he could work as a county surveyor, one of the many jobs he held before entering politics. And after his election to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834, he borrowed law books to study in his free time. By 1836 he had become a lawyer.
With his sharp mind and his reputation for honesty, Lincoln excelled in his new profession. Honest Abe, as he was known, practiced law in Springfield, the Illinois capital, and also traveled with the court as it made the rounds of its judicial district, or circuit. He often carried his legal papers in his trademark stovepipe hat, which he called his "walking office." By the time he began to be prominent in national politics, Lincoln had made himself one of the most distinguished and successful lawyers in Illinois.
The issue that motivated Lincoln to pursue politics at the national level was slavery. During the 1850s the threat of the expansion of slavery into the western territories led to fierce debate and even violent conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces. The issue threatened to split the Union between North and South. At this time of national crisis, Lincoln delivered one of his most famous speeches.
LINCOLN: A house divided against itself cannot stand. 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.
NARRATOR: Lincoln's election as president in 1860 convinced the Southern states that their way of life, based on slavery, was threatened. Before Lincoln had even moved into the White House, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union to form their own government, the Confederacy. The Civil War broke out in April 1861, just six weeks after Lincoln’s inauguration.
[sound of cannons and artillery]
President Lincoln was deeply devoted to the cause of personal freedom. Still, he believed that his primary task in the war was to save the Union, not to end slavery. In 1862 he famously declared:
LINCOLN: If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
NARRATOR: But Lincoln knew that the slavery question had to be settled. During the first two years of the war, the calls to end slavery had grown louder. Lincoln responded with a plan to emancipate, or to free, the slaves. In September 1862 he called on the Confederate states to return to the Union and promised freedom for their slaves if they did not do so by the end of the year. All the Confederate states ignored him. So on January 1st, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves held in the Confederacy were free. After this landmark decree, the Civil War was no longer just about preserving the Union; it was also a crusade against slavery. Lincoln later called the proclamation "the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the 19th century."
Despite the great symbolic value of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln knew that the federal government could not enforce it in the Confederate states. The lawyer in him wanted a definitive solution to the slavery issue. As he campaigned for reelection in 1864, Lincoln led the effort to add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would forbid slavery throughout the United States. The 13th Amendment would eventually become law in the reunified United States.
Another milestone of Lincoln’s presidency came in November 1863, when he delivered a brief speech to dedicate a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln eloquently honored the fallen soldiers while also extolling the cause for which they died—"a new birth of freedom" for the country. The Gettysburg Address is still celebrated as one of the greatest speeches in the English language.
The Civil War ended with the Confederacy's surrender on April 9, 1865. Just five days later Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a supporter of the Confederacy, while watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. As Lincoln died the next day, his Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, said softly, "Now he belongs to the ages."
The future president came from humble beginnings. Born in 1809, in a log cabin on the American frontier, Lincoln spent much of his boyhood living the life of a pioneer. All told, he attended school for less than a year, but he educated himself by reading. As a boy he read history and literature by the light of a log fire. As a young man he taught himself mathematics so he could work as a county surveyor, one of the many jobs he held before entering politics. And after his election to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834, he borrowed law books to study in his free time. By 1836 he had become a lawyer.
With his sharp mind and his reputation for honesty, Lincoln excelled in his new profession. Honest Abe, as he was known, practiced law in Springfield, the Illinois capital, and also traveled with the court as it made the rounds of its judicial district, or circuit. He often carried his legal papers in his trademark stovepipe hat, which he called his "walking office." By the time he began to be prominent in national politics, Lincoln had made himself one of the most distinguished and successful lawyers in Illinois.
The issue that motivated Lincoln to pursue politics at the national level was slavery. During the 1850s the threat of the expansion of slavery into the western territories led to fierce debate and even violent conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces. The issue threatened to split the Union between North and South. At this time of national crisis, Lincoln delivered one of his most famous speeches.
LINCOLN: A house divided against itself cannot stand. 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.
NARRATOR: Lincoln's election as president in 1860 convinced the Southern states that their way of life, based on slavery, was threatened. Before Lincoln had even moved into the White House, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union to form their own government, the Confederacy. The Civil War broke out in April 1861, just six weeks after Lincoln’s inauguration.
[sound of cannons and artillery]
President Lincoln was deeply devoted to the cause of personal freedom. Still, he believed that his primary task in the war was to save the Union, not to end slavery. In 1862 he famously declared:
LINCOLN: If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
NARRATOR: But Lincoln knew that the slavery question had to be settled. During the first two years of the war, the calls to end slavery had grown louder. Lincoln responded with a plan to emancipate, or to free, the slaves. In September 1862 he called on the Confederate states to return to the Union and promised freedom for their slaves if they did not do so by the end of the year. All the Confederate states ignored him. So on January 1st, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves held in the Confederacy were free. After this landmark decree, the Civil War was no longer just about preserving the Union; it was also a crusade against slavery. Lincoln later called the proclamation "the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the 19th century."
Despite the great symbolic value of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln knew that the federal government could not enforce it in the Confederate states. The lawyer in him wanted a definitive solution to the slavery issue. As he campaigned for reelection in 1864, Lincoln led the effort to add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would forbid slavery throughout the United States. The 13th Amendment would eventually become law in the reunified United States.
Another milestone of Lincoln’s presidency came in November 1863, when he delivered a brief speech to dedicate a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln eloquently honored the fallen soldiers while also extolling the cause for which they died—"a new birth of freedom" for the country. The Gettysburg Address is still celebrated as one of the greatest speeches in the English language.
The Civil War ended with the Confederacy's surrender on April 9, 1865. Just five days later Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a supporter of the Confederacy, while watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. As Lincoln died the next day, his Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, said softly, "Now he belongs to the ages."