Full Name:
- Abraham Lincoln
Birth Date:
- February 12, 1809
Birth Location:
- Hardin County, Kentucky
Parents:
- Thomas and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln
Education:
- Limited
Occupation:
- Lawyer
- Politician
Career Summary:
- U.S. Congressman
- 16th President of the United States
Spouse:
- Mary Todd (1840)
Nickname(s):
- Honest Abe
- Great Emancipator
- Rail Splitter
Place of Death:
- Washington DC
Date of Death:
- April 15, 1865
Place of Burial:
- Oak Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois
Significance:
- Abraham Lincoln’s family moved to Indiana in December 1816.
- Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, died on October 5, 1818.
- Abraham Lincoln had less than one year of formal education
- Abraham Lincoln’s father married Sarah Bush Johnston on December 2, 1819.
- Abraham Lincoln’s family moved to Illinois in March 1830.
- Abraham Lincoln separated from his family, moving to New Salem, Illinois in July 1831.
- Abraham Lincoln served as a militia captain in the Black Hawk War (April-June 1832).
- Abraham Lincoln lost an election bid to serve in the Illinois General Assembly on August 6, 1832.
- Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois General Assembly on August 6, 1834, at age 24.
- Abraham Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois bar on March 1, 1837.
- On March 15, 1837, Abraham Lincoln moved to Springfield, Illinois and began practicing law.
- Abraham Lincoln was reelected to the Illinois State Legislature in 1836, 1838 and 1840.
- Abraham Lincoln was engaged to Mary Todd in the autumn of 1840.
- Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd married on November 4, 1842.
- Abraham Lincoln was elected to the U.S. Congress as a Whig from Illinois on August 3, 1846.
- Abraham Lincoln completed his term in Congress and returned to Springfield to practice law on March 31, 1849.
- Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois General Assembly on November 7, 1854.
- Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “house divided” speech on June 16, 1858, while accepting the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate election.
- Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took part in the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates in August 1858.
- Abraham Lincoln lost the senatorial election in Illinois legislature to Stephen Douglas on November 2, 1858.
- Abraham Lincoln received the Republican nomination for President of the United States on May 18, 1860 in Chicago.
- Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States on November 6, 1860.
- In reaction to Abraham Lincoln’s election as President of the United States, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860.
- Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States on March 4, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln ordered reinforcements for Fort Sumter on March 29, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln called for the formation of a temporary militia of 75,000 soldiers on April 15, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade against Southern ports on April 19, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus on April 27, 1861.
- The U.S. Congress granted Abraham Lincoln considerable war powers on July 22, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln named George McClellan as general-in-chief of Union forces on November 1, 1861.
- Abraham Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862.
- Abraham Lincoln appointed Henry Halleck as general-in-chief of Union forces on July 11, 1862.
- Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.
- Abraham Lincoln named Ambrose Burnside to command the Army of the Potomac on November 5, 1862.
- Abraham Lincoln named Joseph Hooker to command the Army of the Potomac on January 25, 1862.
- Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln named Ulysses S. Grant to command Union forces in the West on January 29, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln signed the Conscription Act into law on March 3, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln named George Meade to command Union forces in the East on June 28, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln issued his initial plans for reconstruction on December 8, 1863.
- Abraham Lincoln named Ulysses S. Grant to command all Union forces on March 9, 1864.
- Abraham Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, which established a strict reconstruction policy, in July 1864.
- Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as President of the United States on November 8, 1864.
- Abraham Lincoln attended an unsuccessful peace conference with CSA delegates at Hampton Roads, Virginia on February 3, 1865.
- Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865.
- Abraham Lincoln made his last public speech on April 11, 1865,
- Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington on April 14, 1865.
- Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, from a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth the night before.
- Abraham Lincoln was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, 1865.