Download Abraham Lincoln PP

Abraham Lincoln
A Lesson
Abraham Lincoln
• He failed as a business man - as a storekeeper. He
failed as a farmer - he despised this work.
• He failed in his first attempt to obtain political office.
• When elected to the legislature he failed when he sought
the office of speaker.
• He failed in his first attempt to go to Congress.
• He failed when he sought the appointment to the United
States Land Office.
• He failed when he ran for the United States Senate.
• He failed when friends sought for him the nomination for
the vice-presidency in 1856.
His Life
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Born in Kentucky
Raised in Indiana
Resided in Illinois
Married to Mary Todd
Four children
– Eddie dies at 6 (1850)
• Clerk, surveyor,
lawyer, politician
Suspended Writ of Habeus Corpus
• This suspension triggered
the most heated and
serious constitutional
disputes of the Lincoln
Administration.
• The Constitution
permits the
suspension of the writ
in "cases of rebellion
and when the public
safety" requires it.
– But it is unclear who
has the power,
Congress or the
President.
The Emancipation Proclamation
• During Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address
in 1861:
“I have no purpose…to interfere with
the institution of slavery in the States
where it exists. I believe I have no
lawful right to.”
• What changed his mind???
• In 1863, Lincoln freed the slaves in the
south by the Emancipation
Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
• It didn’t free slaves in border states
loyal to the Union……why not???
Effects
• Changed the purpose of the war for the
North…war for freedom
• Swayed British opinion to the Union
side
• Persuaded blacks to enlist in the Union
Army.
The Civil War
• The Civil War was taking a toll on
Lincoln’s health.
• Lost 20 lbs during 1st four years as
President.
• Spent many nights pacing the White
House, thinking about his next move.
• People claimed he was blood thirsty,
“The Illinois Beast”
• Pleas for peace came in from across the
country
• What else could he have done though?
Abe before the war, 1860
Abe after the war, 1864
Humaneness
Executive Mansion
Washington, Nov.21, 1864
To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of
Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons
who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile
you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But
I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the
Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave
you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be
yours, to have
laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully
A. Lincoln
Assassination
LincoLn’s PLan
• “With malic toward none,
with charity for all”.
• Lincoln supported lenient
plans for
Reconstruction.
• 10% Plan (Lincoln): Once
ten percent of a southern
state's 1860 voters had
taken an oath of loyalty,
the state could rejoin the
Union.
• John Wilkes Booth did not
allow Lincoln to carry through.