Download Slide 1

Abraham Lincoln:
Presidency
“The Individual in History: Actions
and Legacies”
By: Greg Edwards
Pre-Presidency Facts
• Born: February 12,1809
Hardin County, Kentucky
• Spouse: Mary Todd Lincoln
• Children: Robert Todd Lincoln, Edward
Lincoln, William Lincoln, Tad Lincoln
• Prior Occupation Before Presidency: Lawyer
Education
• Formal education consisted of 18 months of
schooling
• He was mostly self educated
• He also learned from being an dedicated
reader
1860 Presidential Election
• Party: Republican
• Lincoln received his first endorsement to run
for president at the Illinois Republican State
Convention.
• On November 6,1860 Lincoln became the 16th
president of the United States
• Lincoln was not even on the ballot in 9
southern states
1860 Presidential Election
(continued)
• Between December 20,1860 and February 1,
1861 7 southern states lead by South Carolina
broke away from the north and declared
themselves as the Confederate States of
America because of Lincoln being elected.
• During his inauguration Lincoln tried to
reunite the states but was unsuccessful.
First Term
• In 1860-1861 fighting between the Union and
the Confederacy started because the
Confederacy fired upon Union troops at Fort
Sumter and forced them to surrender.
• In response Lincoln called on the governors of
every state to send detachments totaling
75,000 troops to recapture the forts, protect
the capital, and “preserve the Union.”
First Term (continued)
• To deal with the confederacy Lincoln arrested
rebel leaders.
• He also negotiated with the remaining slave
states, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and
Delaware, not to interfere with slavery.
• Lincoln came up with the Emancipation
Proclamation which freed slaves in territories not
controlled by the Union. When Lincoln signed the
proclamation he made the abolition of slavery in
rebel states an official goal of the war.
Gettysburg Address
• The Battle of Gettysburg was a Union victory but also
the bloodiest battle of the war which decreased the
numbers of Union troops.
• This lead to the Gettysburg Address which is
considered one of the best speeches in American
history.
• In his speech Lincoln referred to the events of the Civil
War and the ceremony as an opportunity to not only
consecrate the grounds of a cemetery but to dedicate
the struggle to ensure that the “government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish.”
Second Election
• In 1864 Lincoln was re-elected in a landslide.
He won all but three states.
• By this time a victory over the rebels was at
hand and slavery was dead.
• Lincoln’s inaugural speech was his favorite
speech.
Second Term
• Lincoln was close to ending the war. To aid him in
winning the war he brought in the western
general Ulysses S. Grant.
• Grant finally defeated General Lees army and
Richmond fell.
• Lincoln was able to use African Americans in the
army and relentlessly pursue a series of
coordinated offensives in multiple theaters
because of Grant sharing the same visions of the
war.
Second Term(continued)
• On April 9,1865 Lee surrendered and the war
was over. Soon after the other rebel armies
surrendered and there was no subsequent
guerrilla warfare.
• Lincoln was very successful during his
presidency.
Suspended Civil Liberties
• During his presidency Lincoln had
appropriated powers no previous president
had.
• He used his war powers to proclaim a
blockade.
• Suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
• Spent money before congress appropriated it.
• And Imprisoned 18,000 suspected confederate
sympathizers without trial.