Lincoln’s family background

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), politician, thinker, the 16th President of the United States (term: March 4, 1861-April 15, 1865), was the first American *** and party member presidents, together with George Washington and Franklin Roosevelt, were considered by Lincoln as the three greatest presidents in American history when he was young. They were also the first president to be assassinated in history. The British "Times" organized an expert committee composed of eight top British international and political commentators to rank 43 US presidents according to different criteria. Lincoln ranked first in the ranking of the greatest presidents. Eldest son: Robert Todd Lincoln Second son: Edward Baker Lincoln Third son: William Wallace Lincoln Fourth son: Ted Lincoln. As a boy, Lincoln was born in Harding, Kentucky on February 12, 1809 He came from a poor family in the county, and his father was a shoemaker. In his own words, his childhood was "a concise chronicle of poverty." When he was a child, he helped his family move firewood, carry water, and do farm work. His parents were descendants of British immigrants who made a living by farming and hunting. In 1816, Lincoln's family moved to southwestern Indiana to open up wasteland and make a living. When Lincoln was 9 years old, his mother died. A year later, my father married a virtuous woman. The stepmother was kind and hardworking. Abraham Lincoln treated his children from his first marriage as if they were his own. Lincoln also loved his stepmother, and the family lived in harmony and happiness. Because of his poor family, Lincoln's education level was not high. In order to support his family, Lincoln worked as a ferryman on the Ohio River, a plantation worker, a store clerk, and a carpenter as a boy. Youth: When he was 18 years old, Lincoln, who was tall (186cm), was hired by a ship owner, and he and others took a flat-bottomed barge down the Ohio River and sailed thousands of miles to Orleans. Before the age of 25, Lincoln had no fixed occupation and made a living everywhere. As an adult, he became a local land surveyor. Because he was proficient in measurement and calculation, he was often invited to resolve land boundary disputes. After hard work, Lincoln was always a young man who loved reading. The light of his night reading always flickered until very late. In his youth, Lincoln read all of Shakespeare's works, read "History of the United States", and read many historical and literary books. He became a knowledgeable and wise man through self-study. He gave his first political speech at a political rally. Because he criticized black slavery and put forward some suggestions that were beneficial to public causes, Lincoln gained influence among the public. In addition to his outstanding character, he was elected as a state legislator in 1834. Two years later, Lincoln became a lawyer through self-study, and soon became the leader of the Whig Party in the state Congress. In August 1834, the 25-year-old Lincoln was elected as a state legislator and began his political career. At the same time, he managed a rural post office, engaged in land surveying, and studied law with the help of friends. A few years later, he became a lawyer. After gaining experience as a state legislator, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846. In 1847, as a representative of the Whig Party, Lincoln participated in the election for Congress and was successful. He came to the capital Washington for the first time. Before and after, the debate about slavery became a major event in American political life. During this controversy, Lincoln became increasingly anti-slavery. He believed that slavery should eventually be eliminated, starting with the abolition of slavery in the capital, Washington. Slavery advocates who represented the interests of southern planters frantically opposed Lincoln. Middle Age In 1850, the power of slave owners in the United States increased significantly. Lincoln resigned from Congress and continued to work as a lawyer. In 1860, Lincoln became the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. In November, the election was announced and he was elected as the 16th President of the United States with 2 million votes. However, he did not get a single vote in the 10 southern states controlled by slave owners. . After the election was announced, the southern planters created divisions and launched a rebellion. Eleven southern states successively withdrew from the Union, announced the establishment of the "Confederacy of American States", formulated a new constitution, and elected a president. In April 1861, the southern rebel forces first provoked a war against the north. Lincoln called on the people to fight to preserve the unity of the Union.

At the beginning of the Civil War, because the southern planters had been plotting rebellion for a long time, and the Lincoln government tried to compromise, it suffered successive defeats in the war. The capital, Washington, is under threat. In order to reverse the situation of the war, the Lincoln government promulgated the "Homestead Act" in May 1862, which stipulated that American citizens could get 160 acres of land in the West by paying $10, and they could become its owners after five consecutive years of farming. In September, the Emancipation Proclamation was promulgated, abolishing black slavery and stipulating that black slaves in rebellious states were free people. The pattern of war suddenly changed. In the summer of 1863, the Northern Army moved into counterattack. In 1865, the southern rebels surrendered to the northern army, and the four-year civil war ended in victory for the north. Assassination: On the evening of April 14, 1865, just after the Civil War, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington. On May 4, Lincoln was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Lincoln led the American people to safeguard national unity, abolished slavery, removed obstacles to the development of capitalism, and promoted the development of American history. He has been respected by the American people for more than a hundred years. Because of Lincoln's progressive role in American history, people praised him as "a model of national rulers in the new era."