Abraham Lincoln

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Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President ofthe United States of America, serving

from 1860 to 1865 (Wilson, 1). From humble upbringings to becoming the most powerful man in America, "Honest Abe" is known today as a great and influential person whose message echoes in American politics as well as American ethics. Lincoln is almost always voted the best or near-best President among historians (Wilson, 1). He helped mend the rift between the Union and the Confederacy, reuniting and reconstructing America and leading the way for his successors to tum this land ofthe free and home of the brave into the powerhouse it is today (Fetzer, 310). From his log cabin childhood to his tragic death, Abraham Lincoln was a great man whose legend lives on today.

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas and Nancy Hawks Lincoln (Fetzer, 311, 312). He had an older sister, Sarah, and a brother, Thomas, who died in infancy (Fetzer, 312). On the farm that Abraham was born, the family spent only two years (Fetzer, 312). They then moved to a farm ten miles away on Knob Creek (Fetzer, 312). It was in Knob Creek where Sarah and Abraham first went to school, learning reading, writing, and arithmetic in a log schoolhouse (Fetzer, 312). Abraham had less than one year of formal schooling, though (Fetzer, 313). He was mainly self-educated, and even made his OVTI textbooks (Fetzer, 313). In 1816, Thomas decided to move the family again (Fetzer, 312). They moved to southwestern Indiana, where Thomas worked

to turn 60 acres offorest land into a farm" (Fetzer, 312). In 1818, Nancy Lincoln died ofan illness the settlers called "milk sickness," brought on by drinking milk from cows "that had eaten snakeroot," a highly toxic herb (Fetzer, 312). A deep melancholy...

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...coln as an act for the Confederacy, even though the war had ended five days before (Fetzer, 320). Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. The death oftheir beloved President left America in great sadness, and is still considered a grave event today.

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There is no question that Lincoln's work from his childhood to his Presidency laid the foundation for the America we know today. Although he's been gone quite a while, Lincoln's legacy definitely stills lives on today. Lincoln's image is featured on today's

United States currency, on both the one-cent penny and the five-dollar bill. At the

Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln sits upon a huge white throne, looking over the country he

helped to protect (Fetzer, 328). Lincoln was a great man and his life echoes the great

American promise. There is no doubt that Lincoln truly was "Honest Abe."

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