Abraham Lincoln Biography & Life Story

Introduction: Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 to April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States and is regarded as one of America's greatest heroes due to his role as savior of the Union. His rise from humble beginnings to achieving the highest office in the land is a remarkable story.
Lincoln died at a time when his country needed him to complete the great task remaining before the nation. His eloquent support of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve. Lincoln's distinctively human and humane personality and incredible impact on the nation have endowed him with an enduring legacy.
Abraham Lincoln was born Feb 12, 1809, in a single-room log cabin, Hardin County, Kentucky. His family upbringing was modest; his parents from Virginia were neither wealthy or well known. At an early age, the young Abraham lost his mother, and his father moved away to Indiana. Abraham had to work hard splitting logs and other manual labour. But, he also had a thirst for knowledge and worked very hard to excel in his studies. This led him to become self-trained as a lawyer.
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…. ”
– Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Family
Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Thomas was a strong and determined pioneer who found a moderate level of prosperity and was well respected in the community. The couple had two other children: Abraham's older sister Sarah and younger brother Thomas, who died in infancy.
When young Abraham was nine years old, his mother died of tremetol (milk sickness) at age 34, on October 5, 1818. The event was devastating to him, and young Abraham grew more alienated from his father and quietly resented the hard work placed on him at an early age. In December 1819, just over a year after his mother’s death, Lincoln’s father Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a Kentucky widow with three children of her own. She was a strong and affectionate woman with whom Abraham quickly bonded.

Abraham Lincoln Childhood and Education
The Lincolns were forced to move from Abraham’s birthplace of Kentucky to Perry County, Indiana, due to a land dispute in 1817. There the family "squatted" on public land to scrap out a living in a crude shelter, hnting game and farming a small plot. Abraham’s father was eventually able to buy the land.
Though both his parents were most likely illiterate, Thomas’ new wife Sarah encouraged Abraham to read. It was while growing into manhood that Abraham Lincoln received his formal education — an estimated total of 18 months — a few days or weeks at a time. Reading material was in short supply in the Indiana wilderness. Neighbors recalled how Abraham would walk for miles to borrow a book. He undoubtedly read the family Bible and probably other popular books at that time such as Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress and Aesop’s Fables.

In March, 1830, the family again migrated, this time to Macon County, Illinois. When his father moved the family again to Coles County, 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln struck out on his own, making a living in manual labor. At six feet four inches tall, Lincoln was rawboned and lanky, but muscular and physically strong. He spoke with a backwoods twang and walked with a long-striding gait. He was known for his skill in wielding an ax and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing.
Young Abraham Lincoln eventually migrated to the small community of New Salem, Illinois, where over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster and eventually general store owner. It was there that Lincoln, working with the public, acquired social skills and honed storytelling talent that made him popular with the locals. When the Black Hawk War broke out in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans, the volunteers in the area elected Lincoln to be their captain. He saw no combat during this time, save for "a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes," but was able to make several important political connections.

Abraham Lincoln Children and Wife
Lincoln as Lawyer and Politician
Lincoln’s Views
Lincoln into national politics.
Lincoln’s Election to the Presidency
Lincoln’s Cabinet
Lawyer
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation
Gettysburg Address