By Danna Martínez
The Sixteenth President of the United States of America. A politician, and a lawyer, known for abolishing slavery and modernizing the economy of the country. Abraham Lincoln was born on a day like today, 212 years ago (February 12, 1809), in Kentucky, United States.
Lincoln was raised to do farm work until he was twenty-two years old. He then went to the Black-Hawk war, where he served as a volunteer.
He ran for the Legislature in 1832 and was beaten. Lincoln began practicing law in 1936 in Springfield, Illinois, where, in 1840, he would meet Mary Todd. The two were married in 1842 and had four sons together. In 1846, Lincoln was elected for Illinois’ 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He became a United States Senator in 1858.
“I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.” -Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln was part of the whig party for a time, then joined the Republican party, with which he rose to the presidency.
Coming from a humble farm, Lincoln persevered until reaching the presidency, which was marked by his dedication to not decompose The Union during the Civil War (a warlike conflict considered one of the cruelest towards the United States’ civil population). According to The White House website, Abraham Lincoln became the United States’ 16th President in 1861, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863.
In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, an American stage actor, planned and executed an attack, killing Abraham Lincoln at the Ford Opera in Washington, where Lincoln was scheduled to attend the play “Our American Cousin” with his wife.
According to History Channel, Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.
Lincoln led the United States during the Civil War, avoiding the disintegration of the nation. Today, he is one of the most admired figures in American history for his principles, values, and convictions. He is also known as a defender of what, in his words, was “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
About Author
