On February 12, 1809 Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln and he also was born with a sister, Sarah, he was born in Spring Creek, Kentucky near Hogenville. When his cousin Dennis Hanks picked him up from the new mothers hands the baby started to cry as he put him back in his mothers arms he said the now famous words "Here you hold him, he'll never amount to much".Of course we know different. When he was two he moved from Spring Creek to Knob Creek, Kentucky. It was there that he started his schooling. He once said "My schooling didn't amount to more than one year." Abe taught himself to read, write, and do arithmetic.

When he was seven his family moved to Indiana because the land was cheaper and better for farming, and his father wanted to get out of Kentucky because it was a slave state and he was adamently opposed to slavery a trait his son picked up on later in life as we all know. When he arrived he helped his dad build a temporary shelter with 3 sides. In this shelter there was a fire that was always burning. A few weeks later they made a permanent shelter, but just after it was finished Nancy Lincoln died of milk sickness, the same illness that killed her brother and his wife and had left them with Dennis to care for. His father left and married Sarah Bush, a widow and an old friend from Kentucky, who brought 2 sisters Sarah and Matilda and 1 brother John. That night he slept on a real mattress with a real quilt, he later said that he felt rich that night because of the mattress and quilt. When he was about 15 he borrowed a book about George Washington from a man he worked for and that night he put it in his usuall "bookshelf" a small crevace betwwen two logs in the cabin wall by his bed. That night there was a snow storm and the book got wet and was destroyed. When he returned the book the next day the owner was upset but said he could keep it if he worked off the cost of the book, but finally he had his first book.

When he was 21 he took a flat boat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. he went with a young man named Allen Gentry the son of one of the local famers that had goods to sell in market. En route they were attacked by river bandits. It is said that there were 6-8 men and the two of them fought all of them off while only sustaining minor injuries. When they got to New Orleans Abe saw many wonderous things in the south port city but he also saw something he would never forget, a slave market, when he saw men, women, and their children separated and sold like cattle he was agast at the way that these people were being treated he turned to Allen and said "Someday I am going to put a stop to this" and Allen knew that he would. They caught a steamboat back to Indiana. When he got back he found out that his father had decided to move again, this time to Illinois. He decided to help his father.

After helping build a cabin he took some money because he was legal age, 22, to have money. He moved to a small town called New Salem and began a new life. He began to work in a small store. When business was slow he took books, either his own or the stores , and stretched out on the counter and read them. On hot days he would go outside and read under the trees.

One day a family came up to the store and said "We are overloaded, can you take this barrel of things". When he looked through the barrel for things to sell he discovered a thick book at the bottom of the barrel. The book was a book of law. As he started to read the book he became interested in practicing law. When he finished the book he tried the state law admissions test. He passed and he became a lawyer. During the time he was reading the book a lot of things had happened, such as; he being appointed postmaster general of New Salem, when he worked he kept letters in his tall stovepipe hat. Once a lady overpaid him $.03 so he walked 12 miles round trip to give the lady back her $.03. Finally Abe's partner in the store died and gave Abe the store and his large debt.

When he sold the store he used the money to pay some of his debt. he began to practice law with a man that also introduced him to Mary Todd, a friend of his family.When he finally got enough nerve to go talk to her he said "Miss, I would like to dance with you in the worst way", and he did! however she was charmed by the 6'4" man she danced badly withed that night and a few years later after numerous attempts by her family to stop it they were married.

Mary had a son about the same time that Abe was going to the House of Representatives in Vandila, Illinois. They named him Robert Todd Lincoln after his maternal great-grandfather. Abe and the other representatives decided to move the capital to Springfield. Abe and Mary moved to Springfield and moved into the only house he would ever own. Mary had another baby named Edward but that child died in infancy. Abe was elected to the State Senate. He debated the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He stayed up nights to study it so he could debate it with details. After a few terms he went for the US House of Representatives. He won. He spent one term there. He retired from politics and returned to being a lawyer.

During his political career he was a Whig party member, but his party and some anti-slavery Democrats formed the Republican party, Abe then started his career again as a Republican. He lost his bid for the Vice-Presidency in 1856. In 1858 he lost in a race for the Senate against Stephen Douglas. They had memorable debates all over the state. He ran for President two years later in 1860. His opponents were Stephen Douglas of the Northern Democrats, John Breckenridge the vice-president of the Southern Democrats and John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party. Abe won all of the northern states. His name was not on the ballot in the southern states yet he got enough sates to win. President-elect Lincoln had a huge victory party the night he learned of his victory. As he was getting ready to leave Tad and Willie shared half of a dog with a friend and they wanted to take the dog with them. Their father then asked "Which half is yours?". They decided to give their share to their friend. Abe went on his own train and his family on another. Abe Lincoln was preparing for Washington, some of the southern states broke away from the Union and formed their own union....The Confederate States of America. They then elected their own president; the former Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Abe took office on March 4th 1861.

On April 12, 1861, the Confederate soldiers attacked Fort Sumpter in South Carolina. The Civil War had begun. The first Battle of Bull Run was fought a few days later. Most people thought that the Union would destroy the Rebels and they would then rejoin the Union. People brought picnic lunches to watch the battle. Some people say that bets were made and that the odds were on the Union, but the Rebels won.

Abe was forced to recruit thousands of men into the Armed Forces. He made decision after decision about the war. He appointed General George McClellan to be Commander of the Northern Army.

In 1862 his son Will died. The whole family was grieving over the death, especially Tad because he had no one to play with.

On July 22, 1862 Lincoln revealed his plan to his Cabinet to free slaves, The Proclamation of Emancipation. In it stated that all slaves in the Rebel states would be free on January 1, 1863. On September 22 he finished the draft. On December 31, 1862 slaves stayed up all night and at midnight they celebrated their freedom. On January 1, 1863 The Proclamation of Emancipation or the Emancipation Proclamation as we know it to be called went into effect.

On July 1-3, 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg occurred. On November 19, 1863 Abe gave his now famous Gettysburg Address. A photographer in the crowd fiddled with his camera and when he was ready to take a picture the speech was already over. Many people and the president himself thought the speech was a failure, but we know different.

The war took a serious change. Now the Union was winning. In 1864 Lincoln was re-elected by defeating George McCellen.

On April 9, 1865 the war ended. Five days later Mary asked Abe to go to the theater, he agreed. Later that night as 10:02 p.m., John Wilkes Booth sneaked into the Presidential booth and shot the president. As he leaped to the ground he shouted "Sic Stemper Tryannis" (Thus Always to Tryants), which is the motto of Virginia. At 7:22a.m. the president died. His Secretary of War said,"Now he belongs to the ages" and he does.

THE END