Introduction to Abraham Lincoln by Clayton Lamb
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
by Clayton Lamb
If you were to ask people to name a United States President of America, surely Abraham Lincoln would be one of the first names to come to mind. This is because Abraham Lincoln was one of the most influential and impactful presidents of our nation. His work and legacy span across great speeches, policies, and writing styles. Abraham Lincoln has a number of great works to cover but I will focus on three of his most powerful pieces of work that perfectly describe why he is a cornerstone of American values. How did Abraham Lincoln embody what it meant to be an American? Let us take a closer look at three pieces of his work, including “A House Divided,” “The Gettysburg Address,” and “The Emancipation Proclamation.”
Before we look at Abraham Lincoln’s work, we must explore what experiences molded him into becoming one of the most influential presidents of our country. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His father re-married, and Abraham thought highly of her, having quoted her to be an “angel mother.” Later in the 1830s, Abraham would pursue a career in law that would find him passing the Illinois state bar exam in 1836. He would begin one of four state legislator terms in 1834. This is important as his beginnings in law and politics would set him up for his election to the U.S. Congress in 1846 where he served as a member of the Whig party. He would eventually join the Republican party soon after its conception in 1854, where he would win the Presidential election as the Republican candidate in November of 1860. Abraham Lincoln’s stellar career in politics and law earned the trust of the American people to navigate a controversial time during slavery and the Southern states’ eventual succession from the Union. Abraham Lincoln called it in one of his speeches, “A House Divided,” which we will explore next.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” One of the most recognizable quotes in his speech, “A House Divided” perfectly sums up what Lincoln foresaw of the nation and the path America headed down. He gave this speech on June 16, 1858, at the close of the Republican State Convention. The context of this speech is so important as just 3 years after this speech was given the civil war started. During this time, numerous states had excluded slavery by state constitutions while many had not, and Lincoln found that a problem such as this would be detrimental to the Union. He warns of the dangers of being either “permanently half slave and half free.” This work was one of his most powerful pieces as he was able to predict that the Union would not be able to function with this divide. Several claim that he wrote this speech as a way of “prophecy.”
One of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous and recognizable pieces of literature is his “Gettysburg Address” on November 19, 1863. The Gettysburg Address is a powerful piece of work a