
{| border="0" align="right" style="margin-left:1em" |- | {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" |+ Abraham Lincoln |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan="2" | |- | Order: || 16th President |- | Term of office: | March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 |- | Predecessor: || James Buchanan |- | Successor: || Andrew Johnson |- | Date of birth: || February 12, 1809 |- | Place of birth: | Hardin County, Kentucky
(site now in LaRue County, Kentucky) |- | Date of death: || April 15, 1865 |- | Place of death: || Washington, D.C. |- | First Lady of the United States: | Mary Todd Lincoln |- | Profession: || Lawyer |- | List of political parties in the United States: | United States Republican Party |- | Vice President of the United States: | *Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865) *Andrew Johnson (1865) |} |} Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th (1861–1865) President of the United States, and the first president from the United States Republican Party. Lincoln staunchly opposed the expansion of slavery into federal territories, and his victory in the 1860 presidential election further polarized the nation. Before his inauguration in March of 1861, seven Southern slave states secessionConfederate States of America#International Diplomacy and Legal Status from the United States, formed the Confederate States of America, and took control of U.S. forts and other properties within their boundaries. These events soon led to the American Civil War. Lincoln was an adept politician who emerged as a wartime leader skilled at balancing competing considerations and at getting rival groups to work together toward a common goal. He personally directed the war effort, which ultimately led the Union forces to victory over the seceding Confederate States of America. His leadership qualities were evident in his diplomatic handling of the border slave states at the beginning of the fighting, in his defeat of a congressional attempt to reorganize his cabinet in 1862, in his many speeches and writings which helped mobilize and inspire the North, and in his defusing of the peace issue in the U.S. presidential election, 1864. Lincoln had a lasting influence on U.S. political and social institutions. The most important may have been setting the precedent for greater centralization of powers in the federal government and a weakening of the powers of the individual state governments, although this is disputed as the federal government reverted to its customary weakness after Reconstruction and the modern administrative state would only emerge with the New Deal some 70 years later. Lincoln was also the president who declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday, established the United States Department of Agriculture (though not as a United States Cabinet-level department), revived national banking and banks, and admitted West Virginia and Nevada as states. He also encouraged efforts to expand white settlement in western North America, signing the Homestead Act (1862). However, he is most famous for his role in ending slavery in the United States with the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation as a pragmatic war measure which would set the stage for the complete abolition of the institution. His assassination, shortly after the end of the Civil War, made him a martyr to millions of Americans. He is usually ranked as one of the greatest presidents, though is criticized by some for overstepping the traditional bounds of executive power. ==Early life== Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a one-room log cabin on a farm in Hardin County, Kentucky (now in LaRue County, Kentucky, in Nolin Creek, three miles (5 km) south of Hodgenville, Kentucky), to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Lincoln was named after his deceased grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, who was killed by Native Americans. Lincoln's parents were largely uneducated. When Abraham Lincoln was seven years old, he and his parents moved to Spencer County, Indiana, "partly on account of slavery" and partly because of economic difficulty in Kentucky. In 1830, after economic and land-title difficulties in Indiana, the family settled on government land along the Sangamon River on a site selected by Lincoln's father in Macon County, Illinois, near the present city of Decatur, Illinois. The following winter was especially brutal, and the family nearly moved back to Indiana. When his father relocated the family to a nearby site the following year, the 22-year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, canoeing down the Sangamon to homestead on his own in Sangamon County, Illinois (now in Menard County, Illinois), in the village of New Salem (Menard County), Illinois. Later that year, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt and accompanied by friends, he took goods from New Salem to New Orleans, Louisiana via flatboat on the Sangamon, Illinois River and Mississippi River rivers. While in New Orleans, Louisiana he may have witnessed a slave auction that left an indelible impression on him for the rest of his life. ===Early Career=== Lincoln began his political career in 1832 at the age of 23 with a campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. The centerpiece of his platform was the undertaking of navigational improvements on the Sangamon in the hopes of attracting steamboat traffic to the river, which would allow sparsely populated, poor areas along and near the river to grow and prosper. He served as a captain in a company of the Illinois militia drawn from New Salem during the Black Hawk War, writing after being elected by his peers that he had not had "any such success in life which gave him so much satisfaction." He later tried his hand at several business and political ventures, and failed at them all. Finally, after coming across the second volume of Sir William Blackstone's four-volume ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', he taught himself the law, and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1837. That same year, he moved to Springfield, Illinois and began to practice law with Stephen T. Logan. He became one of the most highly respected and successful lawyers in the state of Illinois, and became steadily more prosperous. Lincoln served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, as a representative from Sangamon County, Illinois, beginning in 1834. In 1837 he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House of Representatives, stating that the institution was "founded on both injustice and bad policy." [http://www.hti.umich.edu/l/lincoln/] Abraham Lincoln shared a bed with Joshua Fry Speed from 1837 to 1841 in Springfield. A recent biography has suggested the controversial theory that their relationship may also have been sexual: ''See The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.'' In 1841, Lincoln entered law practice with William Herndon (lawyer), a fellow member of the United States Whig Party. In 1856, both men joined the fledgling United States Republican Party. Following Lincoln's assassination, Herndon began collecting stories about Lincoln from those who knew him in central Illinois, eventually publishing a book, ''Herndon's Lincoln''. ===Marriage=== On November 4, 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd. President Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln had four sons. *Robert Todd Lincoln : b. August 1, 1843 in Springfield, Illinois - d. July 26, 1926 in Manchester, Vermont. *Edward Baker Lincoln : b. March 10, 1846 in Springfield, Illinois - d. February 1, 1850 in Springfield, Illinois. (Named after a close friend of Lincoln's, United States Congress Edward D. Baker.) *William Wallace Lincoln : b. December 21, 1850 in Springfield, Illinois - d. February 20, 1862 in Washington, D.C. *Thomas \"Tad\" Lincoln : b. April 4, 1853 in Springfield, Illinois - d. July 16, 1871 in Chicago. Only Robert survived into adulthood. Of Robert's three children, only Jessie Lincoln had any children (2 - Mary Lincoln Beckwith and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith). Neither Robert Beckwith nor Mary Beckwith had any children, so Abraham Lincoln's bloodline ended when Robert Beckwith (Lincoln's great-grandson) died on December 24, 1985. [http://members.aol.com/beaufait/biography/geneology.htm] ==Towards the Presidency== In 1846 Lincoln was elected to one term in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the United States Whig Party. A staunch Whig, Lincoln often referred to Whig leader Henry Clay as his political idol. As a freshman House member, Lincoln was not a particularly powerful or influential figure in Congress. He used his office as an opportunity to speak out against the Mexican-American War with Mexico, which he attributed to James Knox Polk's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood." Lincoln was a key early supporter of Zachary Taylor's candidacy for the 1848 Whig Presidential nomination. When his term ended, the incoming Zachary Taylor administration offered him the governorship of the Oregon Territory. He declined, returning instead to Springfield, Illinois where, although remaining active in United States Whig Party affairs in the state, he turned most of his energies to making a living at the bar. By the mid-1850s, Lincoln had acquired prominence in Illinois legal circles, especially through his involvement in litigation involving competing transportation interests — both the river barges and the railroads. In 1849, he received a patent related to buoying vessels. Lincoln represented the Alton & Sangamon Railroad, for example, in an 1851 dispute with one of its shareholders, James A. Barret. Barret had refused to pay the balance on his pledge to that corporation on the ground that it had changed its originally planned route. Lincoln argued that as a matter of law a corporation is not bound by its original charter when that charter can be amended in the public interest, that the newer proposed Alton & Sangamon route was superior and less expensive, and that accordingly the corporation had a right to sue Mr. Barret for his delinquent payment. He won this case, and the decision by the Illinois Supreme Court was eventually cited by several other courts throughout the United States. Another important example of Lincoln's skills as a railroad lawyer was a lawsuit over a tax exemption that the state granted to the Illinois Central Railroad. McLean County, Illinois argued that the state had no authority to grant such an exemption, and it sought to impose taxes on the railroad notwithstanding. In January 1856, the Illinois Supreme Court delivered its opinion upholding the tax exemption, accepting Lincoln's arguments. In addition, Lincoln worked in at least one criminal trial in 1857 when he defended William \"Duff\" Armstrong pro bono who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for when Lincoln used judicial notice, a rare tactic at that time, to show an eyewitness perjured himself on the stand claiming he witnessed the crime in the moonlight. Lincoln produced a Farmer's Almanac to show that the moon on that date was at a low angle and could not have produced enough lumination for the witness to see anything clearly. Based on this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which expressly repealed the limits on slavery's spread that had been part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, helped draw Lincoln back into electoral politics. It was a speech against Kansas-Nebraska, on October 16, 1854 in Peoria, Illinois, that caused Lincoln to stand out among the other free-soil orators of the day. Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, proposing popular sovereignty as the solution to the slavery impasse, had sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Many eastern Republicans had urged the nomination of Douglas for the United States Senate in 1858, since he was a Northern leader who had led the opposition to the Buchanan administration's push for the Lecompton Constitution which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state. Accepting the Republican nomination for the Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered a famous speech [http://www.nationalcenter.org/HouseDivided.html] in which he stated, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (This statement is spoken by Jesus in Matthew 12:25.) The speech created a lasting image of the danger of disunion due to slavery. Lincoln was viewed as a heavy underdog against the popular Douglas. During his unsuccessful 1858 campaign for the Senate, Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 in a series of events which became a national discussion on the issues that were about to split the nation in two. During the debates, Lincoln forced Douglas to propose his Freeport Doctrine, which lost him further support among slave-holders and may have forced the eventual dissolution of the Democratic Party. Though Douglas was eventually reelected by the Illinois legislature (this was before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution), Lincoln's eloquence during the campaign transformed him into a national political star. ==Election and early Presidency== Lincoln was chosen as the Republican candidate because his views on slavery were seen as more moderate, because of his Western origins (in contrast to his main rival for the nomination, the New Yorker William H. Seward), and because several other contenders had enemies within the party. During the campaign, Lincoln was dubbed "The Rail Splitter" by Republicans to emphasize Lincoln's humility and humble origins, though in fact Lincoln was quite wealthy at the time due to his successful law practice. On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States, beating Douglas and two other major candidates. Lincoln was the first United States Republican Party president. Lincoln won entirely on the strength of his support in the North: he was not even on the ballot in nine states in the American South — and won only 2 of 996 counties in the entire South. Even before Lincoln's election, leaders in the South made it clear that their States would leave the Union in response to a Lincoln victory. A total of seven states seceded before Lincoln took office, forming the Confederate States of America. President-elect Lincoln survived an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland, and on February 23, 1861 arrived secretly in disguise to Washington, DC. Southerners ridiculed Lincoln for this subterfuge, but the efforts at security may have been prudent. At Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Turners formed Lincoln's bodyguard; and a sizable garrison of federal troops was also present, ready to protect the president and the capital from rebel invasion. In his Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, Lincoln declared, "I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments", arguing further that the purpose of the Constitution was "to form a more perfect union" than the Articles of Confederation which were ''explicitly'' perpetual, and thus the Constitution too was perpetual. He asked rhetorically that even were the Constitution construed as a simple contract, would it not require the agreement of all parties to rescind it? Also in his Inaugural Address, Lincoln supported the proposed Corwin amendment to the constitution, of which he was a driving force. This proposed amendment would have explicitly protected slavery in those states in which it already existed, and had already passed both houses. Lincoln, however, adamantly opposed the Crittenden Compromise, which would have permitted slavery in the territories, renewing the boundary set by the Missouri Compromise and extending it to California. Despite support for this compromise among moderate Republicans and across the nation, Lincoln declared that were the Crittenden Compromise accepted, it "would amount to a perpetual covenant of war against every people, tribe, and state owning a foot of land between here and Tierra del Fuego." Lincoln also spurned requests to appoint a Southerner to his cabinet (Sam Houston being a prominent suggestion). After Union troops at Battle of Fort Sumter were fired on and forced to surrender in April, Lincoln called for more troops from each remaining state to recapture forts, protect the capital, and preserve the Union. In response, four more slave states seceded by May 1861, and splinter factions from Missouri and Kentucky joined the Confederacy by December. ===Slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation=== [[Image:Emancipation_proclamation.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862.]] Though Lincoln is well known for ending slavery in the USA and he personally opposed slavery as a moral evil, Lincoln's views of his own Constitutional powers on the subject of slavery are more complicated. He believed that the United States Declaration of Independence's statement that "all men are created equal" should apply also to black slaves, and that slavery was a profound evil which should not spread to the Historic regions of the United States. However, Lincoln maintained that the federal government did not possess the constitutional power to bar slavery in states where it already existed, and he supported American Colonization Society, believing that freed black slaves were too different to live in the same society as white Americans. Lincoln addresses the issue of his consistency (or lack thereof) between his earlier position and his later position of emancipation in an 1864 letter to Albert G. Hodges[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/hodges.htm] See: Abraham Lincoln on slavery Lincoln is often credited with freeing enslaved African-Americans with the Emancipation Proclamation. However, territories and states that still allowed slavery but were under Union control were exempt from the emancipation. The proclamation initially freed only a few escaped slaves, but it also did free slaves in areas of the Confederacy as those areas came under control of Union forces. Lincoln signed the Proclamation as a wartime measure, insisting that only the outbreak of war gave constitutional power to the President to free slaves in states where it already existed. He later said: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." The proclamation made abolishing slavery in the rebel states an official war goal and it became the impetus for the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the United States Constitution which abolished slavery. Politically, the Emancipation Proclamation did much to help the Northern cause; Lincoln's strong abolitionist stand finally convinced United Kingdom and other foreign countries that they could not support the South. ==Important non-Civil War measures of Lincoln's first term== Perhaps Lincoln's most important contribution as President, outside of his military leadership as Commander-in-Chief, was his signing of the Homestead Act in 1862, though Lincoln had little do with the drafting of the act or its passage in Congress. Considered by some to be the most important piece of legislation in American history, the Act made available millions of acres of government-held land in the midwest for purchase at very low cost. Any male over 21 could obtain a Homestead tract of 160 acres (647,000 m²) simply by filing a claim and paying a processing fee of $18. The land had then to be lived upon, built up, and improved, for a period of no less than 5 years. Many were more than willing to take up this challenge. The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, also signed by Lincoln in 1862, provided government grants for agricultural universities throughout the American states. Such universities -- often founded in Homesteading states -- provided education and know-how for masses of local Homesteaders. They helped found the concept of scientific Agriculture and, perhaps more importantly, helped democratize American education. Like the Homestead Act, Lincoln had little to do with this act's framing or passage in Congress. After the "Sioux_Uprising " of August 1862 in Minnesota, Lincoln was presented with 303 death warrants for convicted Santee Dakota who had taken part. Of these, Lincoln only affirmed 39 men for execution (one was later reprieved). Lincoln was strongly chastised for this action in Minnesota and throughout his administration because many felt that all 303 Native Americans should have been executed. Reaction in Minnesota was so strong concerning Lincoln's leniency toward the Native Americans that Republicans lost their political strength in the state in 1864. Lincoln's response was, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." ==Civil War and reconstruction== ===Conducting the war effort=== The war was a source of constant frustration for the president, and it occupied nearly all of his time. Lincoln had a contentious relationship with General George B. McClellan, who became general-in-chief of all the Union armies in the wake of the embarrassing Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run and after the retirement of Winfield Scott in late 1861. Lincoln wished to take an active part in planning the war strategy despite his inexperience in military affairs. Lincoln's strategic priorities were two-fold: First, to ensure that Washington, D.C., was well-defended; and second, to conduct an aggressive war effort in hopes of ending the war quickly and appeasing the Northern public and press, who pushed for an offensive war. McClellan, a youthful West Point graduate and railroad executive called back to military service, took a more cautious approach. McClellan took several months to plan and execute his Peninsula Campaign, which involved capturing Richmond, Virginia by moving the Army of the Potomac by boat to the Virginia Peninsula between the James River (Virginia) and York River (Virginia) . McClellan's delay irritated Lincoln, as did McClellan's insistence that no troops were needed to defend Washington, D.C. Lincoln insisted on holding some of McClellan's troops to defend the capital, a decision McClellan blamed for the ultimate failure of his Peninsula Campaign. McClellan, a lifelong Democrat who was temperamentally conservative, was relieved as general-in-chief after releasing his Harrison's Landing Letter, where he offered unsolicited political advice to Lincoln urging caution in the war effort. McClellan's letter incensed Radical Republicans, who successfully pressured Lincoln to appoint fellow Republican John Pope (military officer) as head of the new Army of Virginia. Pope complied with Lincoln's strategic desire for the Union to move towards Richmond from the north, thus guarding Washington, D.C. However, Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run during the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac back into the defenses of Washington for a second time, leading to Pope's being sent west to fight against the Native American . Panicked by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland, Lincoln restored McClellan to command of all forces around Washington in time for the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. It was the Union victory in that battle that allowed Lincoln to release his Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln relieved McClellan of command shortly after the 1862 midterm elections and appointed Republican Ambrose Burnside to head the Army of the Potomac, who promised to follow through on Lincoln's strategic vision for an aggressive offensive against Lee and Richmond. After Burnside was embarrassingly routed at Battle of Fredericksburg , Joseph Hooker assumed command, but was routed at Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863 and also relieved of command. After the Union victory at Battle of Gettysburg and months of inactivity for the Army of the Potomac, Lincoln made the fateful decision to appoint a new army commander: General Ulysses S. Grant, who was disfavored by Republican hardliners because he had been a Democrat, but who had a solid string of victories in the Western Theater, including Battle of Vicksburg and Battle of Chattanooga III . Earlier, reacting to criticism of Grant, Lincoln was quoted as saying, "I cannot spare this man. He fights." Grant waged his bloody Overland Campaign in 1864, using a strategy of a war of attrition, characterized by high Union losses at battles such as the Battle of the Wilderness and Battle of Cold Harbor , but by proportionately higher losses in the Confederate army. Grant's aggressive campaign would eventually bottle up Robert E. Lee in the Siege of Petersburg and result in the Union taking Richmond and bringing the war to a close in the spring of 1865. Lincoln authorized Grant to used a scorched earth approach to destroy the South's morale and economic ability to continue the war. This allowed Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan to destroy factories, farms, and cities in the Shenandoah Valley, Georgia, and South Carolina. The damage in Sherman's March to the Sea through Georgia totaled in excess of 100 million dollars. Lincoln had a star-crossed record as a military leader, possessing a keen understanding of strategic points (such as the Mississippi River and the fortress city of Vicksburg) and the importance of defeating the enemy's army, rather than simply capturing cities. However, he had little success in his efforts to motivate his generals to adopt his strategies. Eventually, he found in Grant a man who shared his vision of the war and was able to bring that vision into reality with his relentless pursuit of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters of war. Lincoln, perhaps reflecting his lack of military experience, developed a keen curiosity with military campaigning during the war. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office, reading dispatches from his generals through many a night. He frequently visited battle sites and seemed fascinated by watching scenes of war. During Jubal A. Early's Battle of Fort Stevens , in 1864, Lincoln had to be told to duck his head to avoid being shot observing the scenes of battle. ===Homefront=== Lincoln was more successful in giving the war meaning to Northern civilians through his oratorical skills. Despite his meager education and “backwoods” upbringing, Lincoln possessed an extraordinary command of the English language, as evidenced by the Gettysburg Address, a speech dedicating a cemetery of Union soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. While the featured speaker, orator Edward Everett, spoke for two hours, Lincoln's few choice words resonated across the nation and across history, defying Lincoln's own prediction that "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Lincoln's Lincoln's second inaugural address is also greatly admired and often quoted. In these speeches, Lincoln articulated better than any of his contemporaries the rationale behind the Union effort. During the Civil War, Lincoln exercised powers no previous president had wielded; he proclaimed a blockade, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, spent money without Congress of the United States authorization, and frequently imprisoned accused Southern spies and sympathizers without trial. Some scholars have argued that Lincoln's political arrests extended to the highest levels of the government including an attempted warrant for Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, though the allegation remains unresolved and controversial (see the Taney Arrest Warrant controversy). Lincoln was the only U.S. President to face a presidential election during a civil war (in U.S. presidential election, 1864). The long war and the issue of emancipation appeared to be severely hampering his prospects and an electoral defeat appeared likely against the United States Democratic Party nominee and former general, George McClellan. Lincoln ran under the Union party banner, composed of War Democrats and Republicans. General Grant was facing severe criticism for his conduct of the bloody Overland Campaign that summer and the seemingly endless Siege of Petersburg. However, the Union capture of the key railroad center of Atlanta, Georgia by William Tecumseh Sherman's forces in September changed the situation dramatically and Lincoln was reelected. ===Reconstruction=== The reconstruction of the Union weighed heavy on the President's mind throughout the war effort. He was determined to take a course that would not permanently alienate the former Confederate states, and throughout the war Lincoln urged speedy elections under generous terms in areas behind Union lines. This irritated congressional Republicans, who urged a more stringent Reconstruction policy. One of Lincoln's few vetoes during his term was of the Wade-Davis bill, an effort by congressional Republicans to impose harsher Reconstruction terms on the Confederate areas. Republicans in Congress retaliated by refusing to seat representatives elected from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee during the war under Lincoln's generous terms. "Let 'em up easy," he told his assembled military leaders Ulysses S. Grant (a future president), William Tecumseh Sherman and David Dixon Porter in an 1865 meeting on the steamer River Queen. When Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, was at long last captured, Lincoln went there to make a public gesture of sitting at Jefferson Davis's own desk, symbolically saying to the nation that the President of the United States held authority over the entire land. He was greeted at the city as a conquering hero by freed slaves, whose sentiments were epitomized by one admirer's quote, "I know I am free for I have seen the face of Father Abraham and have felt him." On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This left only Joseph Johnston's forces in the East to deal with. Weeks later Johnston would defy Jefferson Davis and surrender his forces to Sherman. Of course, Lincoln would not survive to see the surrender of all Confederate forces; just days after Lee surrendered, Lincoln was assassination. ==Assassination== [[Image:Lincolnassassination.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln, and Booth.]] Lincoln had met frequently with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as the war drew to a close. The two men planned matters of reconstruction, and it was evident to all that they held each other in high regard. During their last meeting, on April 14, 1865 (Good Friday), Lincoln invited Grant to a social engagement that evening. Grant declined (Grant's wife, Julia Dent Grant, is said to have strongly disliked Mary Todd Lincoln). The President's eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, also turned down the invitation. Without his bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, to whom he related his famous dream of his own assassination, the Lincolns left to attend a play at Ford's Theater. The play was ''Our American Cousin'', a musical comedy by the British writer Tom Taylor (1817-1880). As Lincoln sat in his state box in the balcony, John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Southern sympathizer from Maryland, crept up behind the President and aimed a single-shot, round-slug .44 caliber Deringer at his head, firing at point-blank range. He shouted "''Sic semper tyrannis!''" (Latin: "Thus always to tyrants," and Virginia's state motto; some accounts say he added "The South is avenged!") and jumped from the balcony to the stage below. Booth managed to limp to his horse and escape, and the mortally wounded President was taken to a house across the street, now called the Petersen House, where he lay in a coma for some time before he quietly expired. Abraham Lincoln was officially pronounced dead at 7:22 AM the next morning, April 15, 1865 (Easter). Upon seeing him die, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton lamented "Now he belongs to the ages." Booth and several other conspirators had planned to kill a number of other government officials at the same time, but for various reasons Lincoln's was the only assassination actually carried out (although Secretary of State William H. Seward was badly injured by an assailant). Several of the conspirators were eventually captured. Four people were tried by military tribunal and hanged for the assassination plot (David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), and Mary Surratt, the first woman ever executed by the United States government.) Three people were sentenced to life imprisonment (Michael O'Laughlin, Samuel Arnold, and Dr. Samuel Mudd). Edward Spangler (aka Edman aka Ned) was sentenced to six years imprisonment. John Surratt, tried later by a civilian court, was acquitted. The fairness of the convictions, particularly of Mary Surratt, have been called into question, and there are doubts as to the exact degree of her involvement, if any. Booth himself was shot when discovered holed up in a barn (the barn itself collapsed in the 1930s and the site is now the median of a state highway in Virginia). Lincoln's body was carried by train in a grand funeral procession through several states on its way back to Illinois. The nation mourned a man whom many viewed as the savior of the United States. He was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, where a 177 foot (54 m) tall granite tomb surmounted with several bronze statues of Lincoln was constructed by 1874. To prevent continued attempts to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, Robert Todd Lincoln had Lincoln exhumed and reinterred in concrete several feet thick on September 26, 1901. ''See Abraham Lincoln's Burial and Exhumation''. Many medical experts now suspect that Lincoln may have suffered from congestive heart failure and Marfan Syndrome, both of which can be fatal. ==Legacy and memorials== Lincoln's death made the President a martyr to many. Today he is perhaps America's second most famous and beloved President after George Washington. Among contemporary admirers, Lincoln is usually seen as a figure who personifies classical values of honesty, integrity, as well as respect for individual and minority rights, and human freedom in general. Many American organizations of all purposes and agendas continue to cite his name and image, with interests ranging from the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans to the insurance corporation Lincoln Financial Group. [[Image:Lincoln_statue.jpg|thumbnail|200px|Daniel Chester French's seated ''Lincoln'' faces the National Mall to the east.]] Over the years Lincoln has been memorialized in many city names, notably the Lincoln, Nebraska; with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC (''illustrated, right''); on the U.S. U.S. five dollar bill and the Penny (U.S. coin) (Illinois is the primary opponent to the removal of the penny from circulation); and as part of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Lincoln's Tomb, Lincoln's Home in Springfield, New Salem, Illinois (a reconstruction of Lincoln's early adult hometown), Ford's Theater and Petersen House are all preserved as museums, the nickname for the state of Illinois is "Land of Lincoln" named after him. On February 12, 1892 Abraham Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a federal holiday in the United States, though in 1971 it was combined with Washington's birthday in the form of President's Day. February 12 is still observed as a separate legal holiday in many states, including Illinois. Lincoln's birthplace and family home are national historic memorials: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville, KY and Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Ill.. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is also in Springfield. The statue of Lincoln that is furthest south is outside the USA – in Mexico. A gift from the United States, dedicated in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it is a 13 foot high bronze statue in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The USA received a statue of Benito Juárez in exchange, which is in Washington, DC. Juárez and Lincoln exchanged friendly letters, and Mexico remembers Lincoln's opposition to the Mexican-American War. There are also at least two statues of Lincoln in England, one in London and another in Manchester . The ballistic missile submarine USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602) and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) were named in his honor. Famous director Steven Spielberg is currently planning a movie on Abraham Lincoln with Liam Neeson in the leading role. The American Disney theme parks feature an Audio-Animatronics Abraham Lincoln in the show Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Hall of Presidents. ==Presidential appointments== ===Cabinet=== {| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4" style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #000000;" align="left" !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|OFFICE||align="left"|NAME||align="left"|TERM |- !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|President of the United States||align="left" |Abraham Lincoln||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|Vice President of the United States||align="left"|Hannibal Hamlin||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Andrew Johnson||align="left"|1865 |- !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of State||align="left"|William H. Seward||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Treasury||align="left"|Salmon P. Chase||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|William P. Fessenden||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Hugh McCulloch||align="left"|1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of War||align="left"|Simon Cameron||align="left"|1861–1862 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Edwin M. Stanton||align="left"|1862–1865 |- |align="left"|Attorney General of the United States||align="left"|Edward Bates||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|James Speed||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"|Postmaster General of the United States||align="left"|Horatio King||align="left"|1861 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Montgomery Blair||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|William Dennison (Ohio governor)||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Navy||align="left"|Gideon Welles||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Interior||align="left"|Caleb B. Smith||align="left"|1861–1863 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|John P. Usher||align="left"|1863–1865 |}
=== Supreme Court === Lincoln appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: *Noah Haynes Swayne - 1862 *Samuel Freeman Miller - 1862 *David Davis (senator) - 1862 *Stephen Johnson Field - 1863 *Salmon P. Chase - Chief Justice of the United States - 1864 ==Major presidential acts== ;Involvement as President-elect *Morrill tariff *Corwin amendment ;Enacted as President *Signed Revenue Act of 1861 *Signed Homestead Act *Signed Morrill Act *Established Bureau of Agriculture (1862) *Signed National Banking Act ==States admitted to the Union== *West Virginia – June 20, 1863 *Nevada – October 31, 1864 ==Related articles== *Origins of the American Civil War *Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences *List of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations *World Almanac's Ten Most Influential People of the Second Millennium *Movies: ''D.W. Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln''', ''The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln'' *Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum == Further reading == *''Lincoln'' by David Herbert Donald ISBN 068482535X *''Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era'' by David Herbert Donald ISBN 0375725326 *''Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President'' by Allen C. Guelzo ISBN 0802842933 *''Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln'' by C. A. Tripp ISBN 0743266390 *''Abraham Lincoln's DNA and other adventures in genetics'' by Philip Reilly (2000) ISBN 0879695803 *''The Real Lincoln'' by Thomas DiLorenzo ISBN 0761526463 ==External links== *[http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln77.html Especially for Students: An Overview of Abraham Lincoln's Life] *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library] *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress] (1850-1865) *[http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html Abraham Lincoln's Program of Black Resettlement] *[http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html Abraham Lincoln Research Site] *[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761577113#endads Abraham Lincoln] - Encarta *[http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org Abraham Lincoln Online] *[http://www.hti.umich.edu/l/lincoln/ The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln] *[http://deptorg.knox.edu/lincolnstudies/ Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College] *[http://www.sonofthesouth.net/prod01.htm Original 1860's Harper's Weekly Images and News on Abraham Lincoln] *[http://dev.stg.brown.edu/projects/lincoln/ The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln] *[http://www.nps.gov/linc/ Lincoln Memorial] Wahington,DC * *[http://www.thelincolnmuseum.org The Lincoln Museum]Fort Wayne, Indiana *[http://www.lincolnherald.com/1970articleSubstitute.html John Summerfield Staples, President Lincoln's "Substitute"] * [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6469.WKU.&OS=PN/6469&RS=PN/6469 US6469] Patent -- ''Manner of Bouying Vessels'' -- A. Lincoln -- 1849 ===Documents at Project Gutenberg=== ====''by'' Abraham Lincoln==== *Speeches and addresses ** ** ** ** ** ** *''The Writings of Abraham Lincoln'' ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *Miscellany ** ** ====''about'' Lincoln==== *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6812 Volume 1] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11708 Volume 2] of ''Abraham Lincoln: a History'' (1890) by John Hay (1835-1905) & John George Nicolay (1832-1901) *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1815 eText of ''The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1907) by Nicolay, Helen (1866-1954) *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6811 eText of ''The Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1901) by Henry Ketcham *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12800 Volume 1] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12801 Volume 2] of ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1899) by John T. Morse *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14004 eText of ''The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1913) by Francis Fisher Browne *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11728 eText of ''Abraham Lincoln: The People's Leader in the Struggle for National Existence''] (1909) by George Haven Putnam, Litt. D. *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1713 eText of ''Lincoln's Personal Life''] (1999) by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 1809 births 1865 deaths People from Kentucky Murder victims Abraham Lincoln American Civil War people American lawyers Autodidacts Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Murdered presidents Presidents of the U.S. U.S. Army officers U.S. Republican Party presidential nominees Welsh-Americans Christian people simple:Abraham Lincoln
== Lincoln's height== I'm surprised that the tallest president of the US doesn't have his height listed. "Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, at a time when the median height of adult men in the United States was 5 feet 6 inches. He attained this height at age 17. Although an excellent athlete, he was lean all his life... Lincoln's height came from his legs. Sitting, he was no taller than the average man. The legs sprouted from size 14 feet." That information was from http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g16.htm. I just did a quick search and don't look at the rest of the site to see how legitate it is. If you are more interested about his height, there is controversy that his height might have been from Marfan syndrome, though I don't know anything about that. == What things were named after Lincoln? == Washington Times reports that a wasp and a rose species were named after him. There's also USS Abraham Lincoln --User:69.214.227.51 17:49, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Smallpox? == Smallpox mentions that Lincoln contracted smallpox in 1863. Can someone elaborate/work that into the article, if factual (or correct Smallpox if not). User:199.8.171.180 22:39, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Moved footnote == User:Tim Chambers/Abraham Lincoln (Just moving the link to this page because it is not actually an encyclopedia article. --:Larry Sanger) ==Moved text == The following is the text of a recent revision. It was removed because it is non-NPOV, and is a childish attempt at expanding the article. I would fix this article myself, but I don't have the time to clean up after others who don't take pride in their work. --user:maveric149 ''Born on February 12 1809 in Kentucky, he moved at a young age to the area near Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln was elected president in 1860, when the republic was in crisis. Southern states had made clear their belief in the right to secede from the Union. Lincoln was commander-in-chief during the American Civil War. He wrote and delivered the Gettysburg Address, perhaps the greatest piece of oratory ever delivered in North America. Another astonishing speech is Lincoln's second Inaugural. Lincoln might have been a great novelist or biographer had he not become a professional politician. One of the most respected and beloved presidents, Lincoln was also reviled by millions of people, especially in the slave and border states. When President Harry Truman, of Independence, Missouri laid a wreath on the grave of Abraham Lincoln, he caught hell from his mother, who recalled with bitterness the depradations on family property committed by Union radicals in the name of Lincoln. Lincoln has been memorialized in many city names, notably the Lincoln, Nebraska, in corporate and product names, and with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C..'' ==Truncated sentence == This sentence was truncated: "Shortly after his election, the South made it clear that secession was inevitable and war was all but impossible to avoid." I would restore myself but all I know about this dude is that he didn't like the theatre much -- User:Tarquin 00:21 Oct 1, 2002 (UTC) :Look at it this way - war was not inevitable - the north could simply have let the south secede. Look at it another way - it takes two to tango - the north didn't have to fight. ==Alleged factual errors == There are several factual errors in this article, some of them quite glaring. I don't have the time or desire to fact check and rewrite this, but I will point out a couple of the major mistakes in the hope that any school kids wishing to use this as "research" will think twice and find a real encyclopedia. The most glaring errors: Lincoln was never elected to the U.S. Senate. He served only one term in the House of Representatives from 1848-1850, well before he became president. :This is true. Another problem with this piece of garbage article is that it skips over a whole state that Lincoln lived in: Indiana. He lived there from a very young age and then moved to New Salem, Illinois at about 20 years of age. Did a sixth grader write this? Stephen Douglas did run for president against AL in 1860. However, the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates that this article refers to (which are in fact very well-documented, which is why this error is so unforgivable) happened many years earlier when Lincoln ran against Douglas for the Senate seat in Illinois. Lincoln lost that election. Also, Lincoln was a great orator but that had no impact on his presidential election. Because at the time, presdential candidates did not campaign. Their parties campaigned on their behalf and Lincoln gave almost no public addresses between the nominating convention and the election. :You're right about Lincoln not campaigning for the election but to claim that his oratory skills had no impact on his presidential election is ludicrous. If it were not for his oratory skills such as those on display in his "house divided" speech, he would never have been in a position to be elected president. ==Picture not of AL? == Thats a very interesting early degurreotype of Lincoln in the article but I don't believe its him. Being a presidential history buff as well as a memorabilia collector, I've seen many a picture of Honest Abe, but never this one. If you've got any info on it, I'd like to here about it. User:Longevitymonger ===response to question on lincoln picture=== I did a little research, and you can find "information" on the image at: http://www.lincolnportrait.com/ Interesting to note that they are trying to sell the original on ebay for $9,000,000 on ebay. hmmmm. == Lincoln's Honor rank == Go to the bottom of the Talk:George Washington page and look at the honored Americans. Does Lincoln go anywhere in the range from 5 to 10?? User:66.245.115.51 00:14, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC) ==removed link== I removed a link that was labeled "Lincoln Inougural address in different formats" because it was pointing to a pornographic site unrelated to Abraham Lincoln. ==Lincoln car== Is it worth noteing that he's the namesake of the Lincoln (automobile) company? -- User:Stewacide 05:43, 5 May 2004 (UTC) : I think that would be more appropriately listed on the auto's page than on his; his page would get more than slightly cluttered if it noted ''all'' the things and people named after him. You'd still be able to find many of them through the "What Links Here" option. User:MisfitToys 23:38, May 5, 2004 (UTC) ==Mary Surratt== In this article it says Mary Surratt was later proved innocent. Why does it say nothing about that on her page? User:Munkee 18:12, 5 May 2004 (UTC) :Because it's not true. She wasn't proved innocent. The exact degree of her involvement in the conspiracy is questioned, and some have maintained that she was an innocent "bystander", but the testimony of one of her boarders, Lewis Weichmann, and of John Lloyd, from whom she attempted to obtain "firing irons" implicates her as playing at least some role. Weichmann stood by his testimony on his deathbed in 1902. In 1977, the diary of Georg Atzerodt was found, and it provides evidence that Mary Surratt travelled to Surrattsville on the day of the assassination to check on the weapons. It didn't help Mary Surratt that she lied at her own trial. Anyway, I'll adjust this article to be less "certain" of her innocence. - User:Nunh-huh 21:56, 9 May 2004 (UTC) ==Hardin County== Do you not understand how many generations of American kids were taught that Abe Lincoln was born in Hardin County? I even wrote (an atrocious) poem about it third grade. User:RickKUser talk:RickK 21:44, 9 May 2004 (UTC) == NPOV == Please read the Wikipedia policy page on Neutral Point of View then ask yourself how this article is or is not in compliance with the policy. For example, after reading about NPOV, take a look at what the article says about the Gettysburg Address, and compare it to what the NPOV page said about how Wikipidia articles are to be written. User:ChessPlayer 13:13, 14 May 2004 (UTC) :Good point. This is one of the usual write-ups that makes Lincoln into a mythological hero. I don't know how it got featured status. User:172 02:37, 15 May 2004 (UTC) :: As no one is moving to fix this article, I made a small step in the direction of transforming it from a biased article into one consistant with the NPOV policy. I attributed an opinion asserted by the article, that Lincoln was a "masterful politician," to un-named "historians", as I am sure some historians somewhere believe this, so its fact. Still, this is by no means satisfactory, and better yet would be if whoever originally created the claim, stepped forward and cited his sources, attributing the opinion to them, and not the article. User:ChessPlayer 00:10, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::Actually, that's not a glorification of Lincoln. Calling him a "masterful politician" is a value-neutral statement. Stalin, for example, was a deft politician as well, that is when it came to consolidating his own personal power. User:172 00:28, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::: I didn't say it was a glorification. The point is, its an opinion, and articles may not assert opinions, they only may give facts. If opinions are stated, they must be cited with whose opinion they are. User:ChessPlayer 00:39, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::::You seem to be adhering to quite an extreme interpretation of NPOV policies. User:172 00:41, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::::I am adhereing to what it states on the policy page; it is not extreme to simply follow what it says. Wikipidia articles can assert facts, but can only attribute opinions, not assert them. I agree with your opinion of Lincoln. I think he was a deft politician. But that doesn't mean we can make the article say that; we do have to follow the rules. There is good reason to, too, it vastly increases the ability of people to cooperate if they don't have to fight over what opinions will be asserted by the article. User:ChessPlayer 00:52, 17 May 2004 (UTC) ::::::If it helps you sleep better at night, cite historians such as David Herbert Donald and Alan Nevins. User:172 01:03, 17 May 2004 (UTC) I didn't see anything in the NPOV policy about external links. I submitted the following be added to this article's external links http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/lincoln-arch.html . However the link was removed for being "viciously biased." While the articles in this archive are outside of the maintstream of Lincoln literature, I do believe they serve a great purpose of giving a better overall picture of Lincoln's life and his public policies. These articles were written by many different scholars, historians, and economists and I feel they are a great resource for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln. I am hoping to get some input on whether this link should be added to the article. Thanks. --User:JimGar 17:49, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC) :I agree the http://www.Lewrockwell.com/orig2/lincoln-arch.html link should be listed. It gives the negative side of the story about Lincoln that no one hears about in the media or in government schools. Its very biased, but just imagine if one-hundred years from now the only accepted history is that President Clintion was an honest man or that President Bush invaded Iraq to "free the Iraqies". It's like that in my eyes. User:markes15 20:44, 13 December 2004 (UTC) ==Deletion of Racist Quotes== Wikisux, if you think the racist quotes should be deleted, could you explain why? Surely the more information in the article, the better? User:Rosemaryamey 17:04, 30 May 2004 (UTC) :Hnnuh? Take a closer look. There's a reason I labeled my edit "remove duplicate section"... unless you think that section is important enough to appear ''twice'' in the article, I would recommend you get rid of it again. :-) ''-- User:Wikisux 18:28, 30 May 2004 (UTC)'' ::Never mind, I took care of it myself. ''-- User:Wikisux 03:37, 31 May 2004 (UTC)'' :::D'oh! Sorry about that... User:Rosemaryamey 04:32, 31 May 2004 (UTC) I have trouble with the following: "Canadian ethicist David Sztybel has found many examples of racism in Lincoln's speeches and writings." The examples that follow don't seem to show that Szrtbel did anything that one can call "finding." No especial diligence was required. He simply looked up familiar sources in equally familiar reference works or collections. The better verb would be that he "collected" not that he "found" such statements, since they plainly weren't lost. --User:Christofurio 19:29, Jul 25, 2004 (UTC) ==Content stolen by Civil War site? == Contributors to this page may wish to know someone has stolen the content without credit, violating our license. See Wikipedia:Copies of Wikipedia content (low degree of compliance), section Civil-War.ws. You may wish to contact the site at info@civil-war.ws to voice a complaint. User:Dcoetzee 00:40, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC) ==AL an "abolitionist"? == :I made two minor edits to the section "Assassination," correcting the official time of death and the name of one of the conspirators (Edward Spangler). I was rather suprised, however, to see Lincoln incorrectly characterized as an "abolitionist" at the time of his election in the introduction, despite the accurate summary of his views on slavery given in the section "Lincoln on Slavery." At that time Lincoln was certainly not an abolitionist, despite his personal anti-slavery sentiments. :It is very well documented that in 1860 and previously, Lincoln was adamantly opposed to the extension of slavery into states and territories where it had not previously existed, but was reluctant to attack the "peculiar institution" where it was already established. This was likely in the vain and unrealistic hope that such a quarantine would lead to the eventual end of slavery. There is more than adequate evidence that despite Lincoln's personal abhorrence of slavery, he felt the country was not yet prepared for outright abolition and thus refused to advocate it, to the anger and disgust of the abolitionists. It remains to Lincoln's credit, however, that when he perceived changes of circumstance during the war that would allow for the weakening or destruction of slavery, he did not shrink from exploiting them. --User:Edeans 00:08, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC) ---- I've seen this here & in the article on Lincoln & slavery :''Lincoln believed that African-Americans were entitled to "natural rights" as declared in the Declaration of Independence, but not necessarily civil or political rights'', Can anyone elaborate? Don't all rights flow from natural rights, according to theory at the time?--User:JimWae 05:31, 2005 Jan 4 (UTC) ::The "natural rights" stated in the Declaration of Independence are "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The right to vote, hold office, and so on were often considered distinct. Women in 19th-century America, for instance, could be argued to possess the former set of rights but not the latter. User:Funnyhat 22:36, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- ==User:LinkBot/suggestions/Abraham Lincoln== An User:LinkBot has some possible wiki link suggestions for the article, and they have been placed on User:LinkBot/suggestions/ for your convenience.
''Tip:'' Some people find it helpful if these suggestions are shown on this talk page, rather than on another page. To do this, just add{{User:LinkBot/suggestions/ }} to this page. — User:LinkBot 11:21, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)
== Lincoln's sexuality ==
Please vote about this issue below; please discuss the issue up here
There's a new book coming out soon that looks at evidence of homosexuality in Lincoln's life. This has been cropping up periodically for the past twenty years, but this book is apparently very detailed. I suspect it might become an issue, and have added what I can remember. I've added it in its own section, as part of the sections on his personal life, to minimise its impact on the rest of the article. Can we all please approach this maturely and responsibly, admitting that none of us know for sure and we can only examine the evidence and judge the veracity of the claims; documenting claims and rebuttals and anything pertinent in an academic manner, and discussing the changes we've made here; rather than getting into all reverty?
:Thank you for adding this section. Whatever our beliefs on the matter, it is clearly an issue/debate of interest, and should be mentioned in the article accordingly. User:AvestanHamster 02:51, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:I agree. The past few edits on the Lincoln page have certainly shown that a great variety of views on Lincoln's sexuality exists; but no matter what our personal opinions are, this is a topic which has fostered public discussion, including debate on university level. It is also an issue that matters to a great number of people - not only homosexuals, but also those who wish to refute the thesis that Lincoln was homosexual/ bisexual. As such, I feel it fully deserves its own section on this page. 10:43, 23 Dec 2004
:The Lincoln's Sexuality section, I think, merits its own article, which has been created: Abraham Lincoln's Sexuality. I have included a link to it from the main article. I think this debate is definitely important enough to deserve its own article.
:Let me elaborate further on why Lincoln's sexuality needs its own page. The main "Abraham Lincoln" page is a biography; it deals with factual claims. For example, the claim that "Lincoln approved the Emancipation Proclamation as a wartime measure" is factually correct, for this is how Lincoln constitutionally justified his action. However, "Lincoln's Sexuality" is an interpretation of factual claims about Lincoln's biography, and the resulting speculation is not necessarily factually correct. As such, it is a meta-biographical section, but it is not in itself biographical. It deals with interpretations of factual claims, but is not factual in itself. Because of this key difference, I think it needs its own page.
:I'm afraid I disagree. Lincoln's sexuality is no longer than other sections in his biography and it maintains NPOV. It is completely relevant to our understanding of Lincoln's role in history, and should not be moved off to another page. I have reverted the page, and suggest that a consensus be arrived at here before we get into a "reversion" battle. If there is a consensus to move this to a separate article that's fine, but let's move slowly to ensure that the reasons are sound, that everyone who cares has a say, and that this is not just avoiding what some may find a troubling aspect of Lincoln's biography. User:Jliberty 15:02, Dec 23, 2004 (UTC)
* I think it has become far too detailed (looking especially at the poem) to stay on the main page - I would on the main page perhaps mention friendship with J Speed ( a Southerner, right?) & then link to new article. How come nobody has mentioned JS being a Confederate supporter? --User:JimWae 18:02, 2004 Dec 23 (UTC)
*I take offense to your characterization of Lincoln's sexuality as "troubling." I don't see why it is troubling to be homosexual, if that is true. Lincoln's sexuality lengthens an already long article. It is completely relevant, but it is also speculative. You did not respond to my point that it is much more speculative than other parts of the article, and before I allow the section to stand I will insist you give me some reason why speculation belongs in an otherwise completely factual article. Lincoln's sexuality has its own page now, and it will stay there until you give me some reason to put it back here. NP
:And if you revert, I will insist you give me some reason why this information must be on the Abraham Lincoln page as well as the Abraham Lincoln's Sexuality page, and why you removed the link to that article from this page. Is it because it includes some additional information than what you put on here? NP
:: I certainly am not suggesting that Lincoln's homosexuality is troubling, (please note that I have been an out bisexual and GLB activist for 30 years), what I said was that the fact that some may find it so is no reason to hide it off in a corner. So please try not to "take offense" at my writing (see Staying cool when the editing gets hot)
:: I personally do not think it is too detailed, but that is a matter of opinion. Further, I do think it is restricted to NPOV facts, but that is subject to perception. The speculation involved is reported objectively, and is relevant to understanding Lincoln.
:: If I removed a link, it was entirely unintentional, and I apologize. I do not think it should be in two places; I think it should be in one (on the main Lincoln page). If you wish to have a second page, that is up to you and the community (as is the entire decision, I should think).
::In an attempt to cut the Gordian knot, I've reinstated the section, but shortened it to its essentials, and I've restored the link I inadvertently deleted. I've made my arguments, I think we should give others time to participate. User:Jliberty 02:14, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
::No, you have not made your arguments, you have addressed none of my contentions as to why it should be a separate article. Why should the Sexuality section not be its own article? You give no reasons as to why it should be on the main page. Why should the info. be on the main Lincoln page when that information is redundant with the new article? Again, no explanation. I would submit that there is consensus as to the need for moving to a new page from all but J. Liberty. NP
::: Please read the comments above. As far as I can tell, (a) few have voiced an opinion and (b) the majority of those who did voice one think the information belongs on the main page.
:::I personally have nothing against referring folks to another page for further discussion. I did not read the other page and pick and choose what to include (as you imply); I simply restored what I had written. I even shortened it, but someone else put back the cuts, so clearly some folks think it all belongs on the main page intact. I respectfully but strongly request that you stop reverting it away, and let the discussion go for a while before making the change back to the way you want it.User:Jliberty 13:31, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
::And there is nothing speculative here except for the section on Lincoln's sexuality. I would submit further that the section that J. Liberty keeps trying to restore was not npov. The new article contains a much longer counterargument for Lincoln's heterosexuality, which J. Liberty does not believe relevant to put up. Speculation is often inherently biased, and at the very least dangerous when mixed with an otherwise completely factual article. There is a great risk readers will regard the speculation in the Lincoln's Sexuality section as fact, because of its presence on the main page, instead of baseless speculation. The new article gives the section better context. NP
:Speculation is part of the game; it is part of any aspect of a biography. We can only say that Abe Lincoln was born on 12 February 1809 because we speculate that the registrar did a proper job when taking down his date of birth, we can only say that he was the son of Thomas Lincoln, because we speculate that his parents didn't lie about that, we can only say that he was heterosexual, because we speculate that he was. Theories on the life of an eminent person should be not entirely far-fetched if they are to appear in a biography; they should be of some importance to the public if they are to merit a section in their own right. The theory on Lincoln's sexuality is certainly not a speculation that remains in the realm of the far-fetched or the ludicrous – its supporters have provided us with some interesting and sound arguments (be they convincing or not). Nobody who has followed debate in the media on this topic can argue that the theory has engendered no public interest at all. This is clearly a topic that matters to a great number of people; as such, it deserves a section in its own right, on the main page dealing with Abraham Lincoln's life.
Lincoln's birthdate is not a matter of speculation at all (no historian suggests he was born except when he was), nor is his parentage (no historian has suggested Lincoln was born to different parents). Lincoln's sexuality is speculation. We have NO evidence as to the sexuality. Its supporters have not provided sound arguments, but rather innuendo. That Lincoln shared beds with other men is proof of nothing-- if Lincoln slept with his dog, is that evidence he was a beastiophile? That Lincoln wrote a rhyme about a boy marrying a boy is also proof of nothing-- if I write a commentary about gay marriage, does that mean I'm gay too? Where is the causal link there? Where are the hard facts? There is nothing. Why on the main page, further? It has its own page now, and because it is 1000% more speculative than anything else.
As to the dangers of speculation about political figures, let me propose an example. Suppose on the Bill Clinton page I posted a table of Clinton associates who died under mysterious circumstances. That would be totally unfair to Clinton, but it would also be perfectly npov.
Why does this info have to be on the main Lincoln page? No one has even come close to suggesting an answer.
:I did suggest an answer to the question why it has to be on the main page, when referring to the public interest in Lincoln's sexuality. Not my fault if you dont' bother to read previous comments. As to the speculation: Lincoln's birthdate or parentage do not appear to be matters for speculation because nobody ever cared to question them. Hence we do not know of any solid reasons why they should be subjected to discussion. This is not the case with Lincoln's sexuality: Tripp has taken up the case and provided reasons. Other historians follow him in this. We may or may not agree with it, but it is a topic of importance for a great number of people and inextricably linked to Lincoln's biography. [24 Dec 2004, 1.15 pm]
::Why is that public interest not satisfied by the new page? The fact that a "historian" questions something does not establish a legitimate grounds for debate. Eg, Holocaust revisionists, Belasailles' Arming America, etc.
::Again, why both here and the new page? There has been no answer, and your "public interest" argument is nonsense.
:::Every time I try to return the section you have deleted, you delete it again. Following Wikipedia policy, I will not revert it again. I believe, again according to policy, that you should leave it intact until others weigh in, and a consensus emerges (which manifestly you do not have). I have asked other Wikipedians to take a look and to weigh in on the discussion. For now, I will hold my peace.User:Jliberty 13:47, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
:::Just for the record, you're not the only one who wants this section here, Jliberty. I tried to re-establish it too, but then got told off for making too many 'reverts' in 24 hrs. One would rather hope that wiki would apply the same policy to 68.41.239.188 and his purges of the section, but that's perhaps too much to ask for. [24 Dec 2004] 1.52 pm (GMT)
::: Your protagonist, User:68.41.239.188, has been temporarily blocked for 24 hrs, after they wiolated the WP:3RR at 09:35, after being explicity warned not to at 9:13. So, please do not take their silence for assent. They will be able to resume discussion shortly, please be patient until then. User:Jnc User_talk:Jnc 14:52, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:::: On reflection, I decided to shorten their block to 12 hours; they weren't a vandal, just would not listen to requests to please follow the Wikipedia rules. If they are still a problem, please report them at WP:AN I will repeat here a note I made to them: please be aware that if the community consensus is to move that content on Lincoln's sexual orientation to another page, or whatever, people really have to go along. Refusing to follow a community decision, and making edits in the face of it, is a serious infraction, which can garner you a much longer block; repeated failure to do so has led to people being banned. I know it can be a problem sometimed - numbers do not make for correctness. Nonetheless, like Churchill's saying about democracy, it's the best rule we have, and to discard it would lead only to chaos. User:Jnc User_talk:Jnc 17:05, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:::::I'm sure we will all go with the decision, whatever it is. Can you tell us a bit more about the process? Specifically: how long is the vote held open? When the vote is tallied, if it is about evenly divided, is the "default" position to leave the original page intact (Note: that is not its current status, the section is currently missing) or is the default position to remove the disputed section? Thanks again for your help. User:Jliberty 17:43, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
::Good to hear that my "public interest" argument is nonsense. Forgive me, I forgot that wiki wasn't really about serving the public interest. I also forgot that "this is nonsense" is a good sound argument. Merry Christmas! [24 Dec 2004] 1.53 pm (GMT)
Why is that public interest not satisfied by the new page?
Any reason for hiding away Lincoln's sexuality on an extra page? Question: If there were reasons to believe that Lincoln was Jewish, should we better put that theory away on an extra page, so that unsuspecting people don't stumble upon it when they visit the biography page?
I do not support the inclusion of the debate on Lincoln's sexuality on this page. I support the inclusion of a link to another entry about his sexuality on this page, with all of the discussion there. I am a lot more conservative about what belongs on a page when it comes to a featured article. User:Samboy 14:14, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:I'm voting with Tallulah Bankhead on a comparable occasion: when asked about a prominent friend, she said, "Well, I don't ''know,'' darling. He never sucked ''my'' cock." ...I'd have to agree. --User:Wetman 19:20, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:
----
change '''Lincoln's Family to Lincoln's personal life'''. Add a sentence about Speed & link to the new article--User:JimWae 18:30, 2004 Dec 23 (UTC)
: it is lengthy & detailed compared to other, probably more important, sections AND it is pretty one-sided at this point, making an attempt at persuasion (I think) that is premature. For example, many men correspond about their inner thoughts more to long-time friends than to their wives. There is less coverage of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, less on Emancipation Proclamation, ... --User:JimWae 02:25, 2004 Dec 24 (UTC)
::I add this to explain my "no" vote below, and why I agree with JimWae here. While I am willing to accept that Lincoln may indeed have been bisexual, or even homosexual, I also feel it is rather unlikely that this debate will ever be settled as a historical matter. We should recall that being "open about one's sexuality" in Lincoln's time was considered at worst vilely amoral, or at best in exceedingly poor taste. It should be little wonder then that the evidence for either case (for or against heterosexuality) is rather slim, requiring significant interpretation.
::I believe that JimWae's suggestion is the most appropriate here in view of this, and not merely because "it splits the difference." The debate on Lincoln's sexuality is nothing new, and there is no legitimate reason I can see here to Thomas Bowdler this article. However, I also agree that the section as previously worded had too much coverage for this article.
::A word of warning: I will feel free to change my vote to "yes" should a "Bowdler faction" appear to be winning out here. User:Edeans 05:19, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
*Maybe the best option is to look at other biographies and see how sexuality is handled. For example, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. As you can see, their sexuality is not mentioned but major people in their lives, including sexual partners (ie. Martha Washington and Sally Hemings) are mentioned. There is, however, certainly no attempt to list every sexual partner.
:I suggest that Lincoln be handled the same way. If the article gets to the level of detail that his relationships with minor players like David Derickson and Joshua Speed is discussed then it is appropriate to note the speculation that his relationship with these people may also have been sexual although this is not documented. If the historical information on his presidency starts covering all of the various personal attacks that were made on him then the gossip about his relationship with David Derickson will become relevant.
:Direct information about sexuality should be reserved for biographies of those who made their sexuality a key part of their public lives (ie. Boy George) or who had their sexuality become part of their public lives involuntarily (ie. Liberace).
:In short, this section should be deleted. If you choose not to delete it it should be drasticallys shortened and demoted to a footnote, perhaps by changing "Abraham_Lincoln#Lincoln's family" to "Lincoln's Personal Life". Right now, about 10% of the entire Lincoln article is devoted to his sexuality. That's agenda, not NPOV biography. Find a general bio of the man that devotes even 1% of its text to this issue and I will be amazed!
:User:Mfriedma 04:37, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
* There's a theory that Geo Washington was a woman too. Does every theory about every president deserve 5 persuasive paragraphs? There is not enough info counter to the theory in there to make this a balanced entry. There's also more about what other people said about the theory compared to the little about actual factual evidence. The stuff about what the AIDS activist said is inconsequential - and waste of space even in a sub-article. It would have more import to make a statement about how this might affect acceptance of gays by society in general--User:JimWae 17:50, 2004 Dec 27 (UTC)
:: No, but every serious theory by a respected scholar that directly pertains to our understanding of the President does deserve some space. You may be right about the statement by Larry Kramer, except that it points out how relevant some folks think this information may be to current political issues. User:Jliberty 19:47, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)
**I'd agree with "some space" here -- the section in question is far too long. A brief mention that questions about his sexuality have been raised will send interested readers (and that will probably be most of them) will click through to the more detailed stuff. As long as it's on the level of speculation, it doesn't really pertain to our understanding of the President; rather, it pertains to our understanding of speculation on the nature of the President. --User:JpgordonUser talk:Jpgordon 07:15, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
---------------
* I'd like to raise a delicate question about the voting. When we are voting on a controversial subject, such as Lincoln's sexuality, or GLB issues in general, to what extent should the vote be weighed in the light of the general American hostility to homosexuality? I do not mean to imply that any given vote is homophobic, but rather that we live in a homophobic society, and thus should be especially sensitive around votes having to do with the possible homosexuality or bisexuality of public figures, especially ones as revered as Abraham Lincoln. User:Jliberty 17:30, Dec 28, 2004 (UTC)
* Sure. We should weigh it like we would any other vote... with a weight of 0. JEEZE... are you seriously suggesting that we should do something like "GLB votes count double"?!?!?! If you want something like that start a separate Wiki just for GLB topics. User:Mfriedma 01:24, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
:: No I'm not suggesting anything like that. What I am suggesting is that when you have a marginalized group like homosexuals, and a national figure of the republican party like Lincoln, it is reasonable to be cautious about popular votes on what aspects of his disputed sexuality will be shunted off to the side. It is too easy for those who are uncomfortable with the idea that Abe may have been bisexual to vote to hide that information. That is all I'm suggesting: serious careful consideration of external considerations affecting our judgment (e.g., I must be particularly careful not to give too much credence to these reports just because I think it would do so much good for America if they turn out to be true). User:Jliberty 03:04, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)
*Jliberty raises some valid points concerning how homophobia can warp our view of history and historical figures. This being said, I believe there may be a larger problem here: anachronism. That is, engaging in historical writing that reveals more about the writer and the time of writing than it does about the subject (paging Parson Weems). Attitudes toward homosexuality, bisexuality and sexuality in general have varied greatly over time. Fifty or one hundred years from now, the current majority opinion on such matters may well be regarded as quaint, unhealthy, or downright bizarre (one can only hope). It is probably true it is not possible to write history or biography without some anachronism. IMHO, that is no excuse for not trying. User:Edeans 06:21, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
**But if there was gossip about Lincoln's sexuality, in particularly his relationship with Derickson, at the time, surely that can't be considered anachronistic. I agree that the information on the modern debate (who agrees with whom etc.) should be in a different article. But Lincoln's relationship with Speed (even if there weren't any homosexual suggestions, as it does seem to have been one of the most important personal relationships Lincoln had) and any documented gossip of the day about Derickson, should be mentioned in this article. User:195.92.67.71 12:17, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
***Except perhaps on the part about gossip being mentioned in the article, I agree. By "anachronism" I mean the expression of a modish POV in reaction to known historical facts; not the documented facts themselves. User:Edeans 20:05, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
* I reverted Kevin Myers change (from "number of biographers" to "A recent book makes the claim") back to "a numnber of biographers" because we know that this claim was made or endorsed by Carl Sandburg (The Prairie Years), Charley Shively (historian, author of Drum Beats), Jean Baker (biographer of Mary Todd Lincoln) and Michael Chesson (Dept. of History, U. Mass, Boston)
:The phrase "a number of biographers" suggests that a number of biographies about Abraham Lincoln have made the claim. AFAIK, only the Tripp book, and some vague inferences by Sandburg are the only bios of Lincoln that fit the bill. The article on Lincoln's sexuality is full of weasel phrases like this which create the impression that there is more expert support for this claim than there actually is. Mind you, I'm not invested in any particular interpretation -- let the truth lead wherever it may. But this article needs a little more intellectual honesty about who (so far) supports this theory. --User:Kevin Myers 20:43, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC)
::You are right. I will change it to "a number of historians" which is more accurate. Does that sound reasonsable?User:Jliberty 22:22, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC)
:::Works for me, thanks. Now, I might quibble that Tripp was a "writer" rather than a "historian" -- I prefer to be pedantically precise when identifying the credentials of writers of history, since professional historian undergo (in theory) peer review and professional scrutiny in a way that other writers of history do not. But I suppose that's another debate. :-) --User:Kevin Myers 22:43, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC)
Tripp is NOT a Lincoln Historian, and his conclusions are all based on LIES. Wake up people, this book is garage and this shouldn't even be an issue. Here is the fact: LINCOLN WAS NOT GAY OR BISEXUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -- User:Abelincoln98 03:43, 26 Jan 2005
:So you've personally spoken with Lincoln? I doubt he was gay, but the article never states that he was. --brian0918">User:Brian0918™">User talk:Brian0918 03:45, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
**Besides, anyone who Wikipedia:vandalism [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sexuality_of_Abraham_Lincoln&diff=prev&oldid=9658211 Wikipedia articles] doesn't have the least bit of credibility around here anyway. --User:JpgordonUser talk:Jpgordon 04:24, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
And I suppose "they" have credibility endorsing this when everyone knows they are all dirty lies and stains on Lincoln's greater character. What about Mary, Speed, and everyone else involved here? We've done nothing but tarnish everyone's reputation by even making this an issue. I'm fed up of with Lincoln being a target and his good name and memory becoming tarnished by giving Tripp credit for anything when he deserves nothing. I do not wish to read lies. I, as any humbled historian only seek truth. -- User:Abelincoln98 04:14, 27 Jan 2005
: Please explain to me how suggesting that there may be historical evidence that Lincoln was homosexual (or bisexual) "tarnishes" his reputation. You use of that word suggests that you believe that to be homosexual is somehow a disgrace, and reveals more about your own attitude towards homosexuality than it sheds light on the historicity of Tripp's evaluation.
: This is relevant to the discussion because it reveals an underlying political prejuidice that may be in the way of our evaluating the evidence and presenting an NPOV on the issue. Given the split in our modern society on homosexuality (is it evil, sick, or ok?) it is hard for us to evaluate the evidence at hand. On the one hand, we have those who do not wish to believe that Lincoln (a cultural icon) could be homosexual (a perceied evil). On the other, we have those who would like very much for Lincoln to be homosexual because it would (perhaps) lend legitimacy to modern homosexuality.
:Given the conditions under which Lincoln lived (in which such matters were not even discussed) it is even harder to come to terms with the historical evidence, but it undeniable that various well respected historians have found the evidence compelling, while other well respected historians have found the evidence specious at best.
: I suggest we lower the heat on this discussion and try to stick to estalished facts without resorting to subjective evaluation of the merits of homosexuality nor impugning the motivations of Lincoln's biographers (on either side of the issue. User:Jliberty 13:32, Jan 27, 2005 (UTC)
* I agree Tripp is not a historian nor a biographer - he is an author interested only in his own point of view. But the issue has been around & long time, & likely will NEVER go away, so we must deal with it intelligently. -- User:JimWae 04:32, 2005 Jan 27 (UTC)
Found this interesting: "This is yet another disgusting attempt to misrepresent an important historical figure in hopes of advancing the homosexual agenda. Similar attempts were made to hijack the personal lives and reputations of everyone from Jesus Christ to Shakespeare to Alexander Hamilton to James Buchannan, Lincoln's predecessor in the White House, to Adolf Hitler and even Yasser Arafat. That this book attempts to besmirch Lincoln's repuation and character by falsely portraying him as gay is not surprising considering the book's author was both a homosexual himself and a research assistant to the discredited Alfred Kinsey. He's just trying to project his own sexual perversions onto one of the nation's greatest presidents." It's exactly how I see the situation, quoted from another valuable source.
** Interesting that you found it interesting; let's take your message apart. First, no source is cited. Second, "disgusting attempt to misrepresent" is not NPOV by any stretch. Third, what is the "homosexual agenda" and how come I'm never there when they're handing out copies? Fourth, how does suggesting that Lincoln may have been homosexual besmirch his character? Doesn't that say more about your attitude towards homosexuals than it does about President Lincoln? Fifth, how is it you can categorically deny that he may have been homosexual when at least some serious (and incidentally heterosexual) biographers of Lincoln find evidence that he may have been? Sixth, the term "perversion" is unduly pejorative, not to mention quaintly hostile. I do think that if we are serious about having an NPOV description of Lincoln, we should attempt to do so with as little inflammatory rhetoric as possible. Finally, please sign your posts. User:Jliberty 19:46, Jan 29, 2005 (UTC)
***His "valuable source" is an online user named "[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-glance/-/A3QGF3WIYLJQGV/1/103-6001329-2475066?%5Fencoding=UTF8 brianbrockmeyer]" at [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743266390/ref%3Dnosim/onfocus/002-6222134-4306452 Amazon]. No info is given about this person, but that specific review got 1 out of 8 helpful. --brian0918">User:Brian0918™">User talk:Brian0918 20:30, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
== Compromise Solution (Vote) Discussion ==
This is a new vote aimed at achieving consensus. User:Jliberty 18:49, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC)
::'''Resolved: leave the single paragraph under ''Early Life'' as it is (neither expanded nor contracted).
*Reproduced here for reference:''' Abraham Lincoln lived for four years with Joshua Speed, from 1837 to 1841. They shared a bed during these years and developed a friendship that would last until their deaths. A number of historians have suggested that this relationship was homosexual, though others have argued that Lincoln and Speed shared a bed because of their poor financial circumstances, and that at the time it was not necessarily unusual for two men to share a bed. See: Abraham Lincoln's sexuality
Sorry, but I edited that a bit. Here's how I wrote it:
*Abraham Lincoln lived with Joshua Speed from 1837 to 1841. They shared a bed during these years and developed a friendship that would last until their deaths. Speed was, according to biographer David Herbert Donald, "perhaps the only intimate friend that Lincoln ever had." Some historians have suggested that this relationship may have been homosexual, though most biographers have traditionally argued that it was not unusual for two men to share a bed in that era, and that Lincoln and Speed did so because of their poor financial circumstances. (See Abraham Lincoln's sexuality).
I thought it appropriate to mention that even "traditional" biographers recognized Speed & Lincoln's closeness. Also, I wanted to make clear that the "sexual" interpretation is less accepted; the earlier version was vague on this.
Obviously, I vote "yes" for my version. ;-) --User:Kevin Myers 21:59, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC)
**************
* I reverted today's revisions to the primary page, as it resumes the polemic against the theory that Lincoln was gay in the main article. By consensus we've moved this discussion to the Abraham Lincoln's sexuality) page, and that is where it belongs. I will add that there are strong opionions on both sides of this issue, and clearly there are political motivations, not just historical, in the analysis on both sides. I believe this should be handled with a light touch so that we do not reignite the revision wars. User:Jliberty 13:05, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)
== Vote to maintain the "compromise" solution as is ==
A ''Yes'' vote indicates you agree the current hanlding of Lincoln's sexuality should be left unchanged.
A ''No'' vote indicates that you would prefer some other decision.
[Please Do NOT duscuss here. Only vote here. Discuss above, in the section ''Compromise Solution Discussion'']
To vote, find the vote you favor and vote by adding # ~~~~ Below the vote you favor.
Yes
#User:Jliberty 18:49, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC)
#User:GK User talk:GK 20:08, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)
#User:Tony Sidaway|User talk:Tony Sidaway 06:38, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
#User:Edeans 18:37, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
#I agree with Tony Sidaway here. :-) User:Samboy 23:03, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
#User:Chris 73 User talk:Chris 73 12:14, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
#User:Ryan 5:14 Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)
No
#User: Chris Ducat User Talk: Chris Ducat 15:49, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC) : Perhaps a separate article or a sub-article.
#
== (Suspended) Vote for Lincoln's Sexuality ==
''This vote is suspended pending the outcome of the vote above''
This vote is very simple:
::Should the section on Lincoln's Sexuality be included in this page?
To vote, find the vote you favor and vote by adding # ~~~~ Below the vote you favor.
Yes
#User:Jliberty 15:31, Dec 24, 2004 (UTC)
# Yes, it is easily as important as those events that happened *after* Lincoln's lifetime and yet find mention on the main page (e.g. "Lincoln exhumed" / "Lincoln memorialized") User:Josias Bunsen 12:56, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
#Ryan!">User:Merovingian | Talk">User talk:Merovingian 13:21, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)
# Yes. --User:Tony Sidaway|User talk:Tony Sidaway 20:12, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)
# Yes, or at least a brief mention and link. --User:Swamp Ig 01:40, 6 Jan 2005 (UT
Abraham Lincoln
{| border="0" align="right" style="margin-left:1em" |- | {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" |+ Abraham Lincoln |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan="2" | |- | Order: || 16th President |- | Term of office: | March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 |- | Predecessor: || James Buchanan |- | Successor: || Andrew Johnson |- | Date of birth: || February 12, 1809 |- | Place of birth: | Hardin County, Kentucky
(site now in LaRue County, Kentucky) |- | Date of death: || April 15, 1865 |- | Place of death: || Washington, D.C. |- | First Lady of the United States: | Mary Todd Lincoln |- | Profession: || Lawyer |- | List of political parties in the United States: | United States Republican Party |- | Vice President of the United States: | *Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865) *Andrew Johnson (1865) |} |} Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th (1861–1865) President of the United States, and the first president from the United States Republican Party. Lincoln staunchly opposed the expansion of slavery into federal territories, and his victory in the 1860 presidential election further polarized the nation. Before his inauguration in March of 1861, seven Southern slave states secessionConfederate States of America#International Diplomacy and Legal Status from the United States, formed the Confederate States of America, and took control of U.S. forts and other properties within their boundaries. These events soon led to the American Civil War. Lincoln was an adept politician who emerged as a wartime leader skilled at balancing competing considerations and at getting rival groups to work together toward a common goal. He personally directed the war effort, which ultimately led the Union forces to victory over the seceding Confederate States of America. His leadership qualities were evident in his diplomatic handling of the border slave states at the beginning of the fighting, in his defeat of a congressional attempt to reorganize his cabinet in 1862, in his many speeches and writings which helped mobilize and inspire the North, and in his defusing of the peace issue in the U.S. presidential election, 1864. Lincoln had a lasting influence on U.S. political and social institutions. The most important may have been setting the precedent for greater centralization of powers in the federal government and a weakening of the powers of the individual state governments, although this is disputed as the federal government reverted to its customary weakness after Reconstruction and the modern administrative state would only emerge with the New Deal some 70 years later. Lincoln was also the president who declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday, established the United States Department of Agriculture (though not as a United States Cabinet-level department), revived national banking and banks, and admitted West Virginia and Nevada as states. He also encouraged efforts to expand white settlement in western North America, signing the Homestead Act (1862). However, he is most famous for his role in ending slavery in the United States with the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation as a pragmatic war measure which would set the stage for the complete abolition of the institution. His assassination, shortly after the end of the Civil War, made him a martyr to millions of Americans. He is usually ranked as one of the greatest presidents, though is criticized by some for overstepping the traditional bounds of executive power. ==Early life== Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a one-room log cabin on a farm in Hardin County, Kentucky (now in LaRue County, Kentucky, in Nolin Creek, three miles (5 km) south of Hodgenville, Kentucky), to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Lincoln was named after his deceased grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, who was killed by Native Americans. Lincoln's parents were largely uneducated. When Abraham Lincoln was seven years old, he and his parents moved to Spencer County, Indiana, "partly on account of slavery" and partly because of economic difficulty in Kentucky. In 1830, after economic and land-title difficulties in Indiana, the family settled on government land along the Sangamon River on a site selected by Lincoln's father in Macon County, Illinois, near the present city of Decatur, Illinois. The following winter was especially brutal, and the family nearly moved back to Indiana. When his father relocated the family to a nearby site the following year, the 22-year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, canoeing down the Sangamon to homestead on his own in Sangamon County, Illinois (now in Menard County, Illinois), in the village of New Salem (Menard County), Illinois. Later that year, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt and accompanied by friends, he took goods from New Salem to New Orleans, Louisiana via flatboat on the Sangamon, Illinois River and Mississippi River rivers. While in New Orleans, Louisiana he may have witnessed a slave auction that left an indelible impression on him for the rest of his life. ===Early Career=== Lincoln began his political career in 1832 at the age of 23 with a campaign for the Illinois General Assembly. The centerpiece of his platform was the undertaking of navigational improvements on the Sangamon in the hopes of attracting steamboat traffic to the river, which would allow sparsely populated, poor areas along and near the river to grow and prosper. He served as a captain in a company of the Illinois militia drawn from New Salem during the Black Hawk War, writing after being elected by his peers that he had not had "any such success in life which gave him so much satisfaction." He later tried his hand at several business and political ventures, and failed at them all. Finally, after coming across the second volume of Sir William Blackstone's four-volume ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', he taught himself the law, and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1837. That same year, he moved to Springfield, Illinois and began to practice law with Stephen T. Logan. He became one of the most highly respected and successful lawyers in the state of Illinois, and became steadily more prosperous. Lincoln served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, as a representative from Sangamon County, Illinois, beginning in 1834. In 1837 he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House of Representatives, stating that the institution was "founded on both injustice and bad policy." [http://www.hti.umich.edu/l/lincoln/] Abraham Lincoln shared a bed with Joshua Fry Speed from 1837 to 1841 in Springfield. A recent biography has suggested the controversial theory that their relationship may also have been sexual: ''See The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.'' In 1841, Lincoln entered law practice with William Herndon (lawyer), a fellow member of the United States Whig Party. In 1856, both men joined the fledgling United States Republican Party. Following Lincoln's assassination, Herndon began collecting stories about Lincoln from those who knew him in central Illinois, eventually publishing a book, ''Herndon's Lincoln''. ===Marriage=== On November 4, 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd. President Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln had four sons. *Robert Todd Lincoln : b. August 1, 1843 in Springfield, Illinois - d. July 26, 1926 in Manchester, Vermont. *Edward Baker Lincoln : b. March 10, 1846 in Springfield, Illinois - d. February 1, 1850 in Springfield, Illinois. (Named after a close friend of Lincoln's, United States Congress Edward D. Baker.) *William Wallace Lincoln : b. December 21, 1850 in Springfield, Illinois - d. February 20, 1862 in Washington, D.C. *Thomas \"Tad\" Lincoln : b. April 4, 1853 in Springfield, Illinois - d. July 16, 1871 in Chicago. Only Robert survived into adulthood. Of Robert's three children, only Jessie Lincoln had any children (2 - Mary Lincoln Beckwith and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith). Neither Robert Beckwith nor Mary Beckwith had any children, so Abraham Lincoln's bloodline ended when Robert Beckwith (Lincoln's great-grandson) died on December 24, 1985. [http://members.aol.com/beaufait/biography/geneology.htm] ==Towards the Presidency== In 1846 Lincoln was elected to one term in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the United States Whig Party. A staunch Whig, Lincoln often referred to Whig leader Henry Clay as his political idol. As a freshman House member, Lincoln was not a particularly powerful or influential figure in Congress. He used his office as an opportunity to speak out against the Mexican-American War with Mexico, which he attributed to James Knox Polk's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood." Lincoln was a key early supporter of Zachary Taylor's candidacy for the 1848 Whig Presidential nomination. When his term ended, the incoming Zachary Taylor administration offered him the governorship of the Oregon Territory. He declined, returning instead to Springfield, Illinois where, although remaining active in United States Whig Party affairs in the state, he turned most of his energies to making a living at the bar. By the mid-1850s, Lincoln had acquired prominence in Illinois legal circles, especially through his involvement in litigation involving competing transportation interests — both the river barges and the railroads. In 1849, he received a patent related to buoying vessels. Lincoln represented the Alton & Sangamon Railroad, for example, in an 1851 dispute with one of its shareholders, James A. Barret. Barret had refused to pay the balance on his pledge to that corporation on the ground that it had changed its originally planned route. Lincoln argued that as a matter of law a corporation is not bound by its original charter when that charter can be amended in the public interest, that the newer proposed Alton & Sangamon route was superior and less expensive, and that accordingly the corporation had a right to sue Mr. Barret for his delinquent payment. He won this case, and the decision by the Illinois Supreme Court was eventually cited by several other courts throughout the United States. Another important example of Lincoln's skills as a railroad lawyer was a lawsuit over a tax exemption that the state granted to the Illinois Central Railroad. McLean County, Illinois argued that the state had no authority to grant such an exemption, and it sought to impose taxes on the railroad notwithstanding. In January 1856, the Illinois Supreme Court delivered its opinion upholding the tax exemption, accepting Lincoln's arguments. In addition, Lincoln worked in at least one criminal trial in 1857 when he defended William \"Duff\" Armstrong pro bono who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for when Lincoln used judicial notice, a rare tactic at that time, to show an eyewitness perjured himself on the stand claiming he witnessed the crime in the moonlight. Lincoln produced a Farmer's Almanac to show that the moon on that date was at a low angle and could not have produced enough lumination for the witness to see anything clearly. Based on this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which expressly repealed the limits on slavery's spread that had been part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, helped draw Lincoln back into electoral politics. It was a speech against Kansas-Nebraska, on October 16, 1854 in Peoria, Illinois, that caused Lincoln to stand out among the other free-soil orators of the day. Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, proposing popular sovereignty as the solution to the slavery impasse, had sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Many eastern Republicans had urged the nomination of Douglas for the United States Senate in 1858, since he was a Northern leader who had led the opposition to the Buchanan administration's push for the Lecompton Constitution which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state. Accepting the Republican nomination for the Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered a famous speech [http://www.nationalcenter.org/HouseDivided.html] in which he stated, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (This statement is spoken by Jesus in Matthew 12:25.) The speech created a lasting image of the danger of disunion due to slavery. Lincoln was viewed as a heavy underdog against the popular Douglas. During his unsuccessful 1858 campaign for the Senate, Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 in a series of events which became a national discussion on the issues that were about to split the nation in two. During the debates, Lincoln forced Douglas to propose his Freeport Doctrine, which lost him further support among slave-holders and may have forced the eventual dissolution of the Democratic Party. Though Douglas was eventually reelected by the Illinois legislature (this was before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution), Lincoln's eloquence during the campaign transformed him into a national political star. ==Election and early Presidency== Lincoln was chosen as the Republican candidate because his views on slavery were seen as more moderate, because of his Western origins (in contrast to his main rival for the nomination, the New Yorker William H. Seward), and because several other contenders had enemies within the party. During the campaign, Lincoln was dubbed "The Rail Splitter" by Republicans to emphasize Lincoln's humility and humble origins, though in fact Lincoln was quite wealthy at the time due to his successful law practice. On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States, beating Douglas and two other major candidates. Lincoln was the first United States Republican Party president. Lincoln won entirely on the strength of his support in the North: he was not even on the ballot in nine states in the American South — and won only 2 of 996 counties in the entire South. Even before Lincoln's election, leaders in the South made it clear that their States would leave the Union in response to a Lincoln victory. A total of seven states seceded before Lincoln took office, forming the Confederate States of America. President-elect Lincoln survived an assassination attempt in Baltimore, Maryland, and on February 23, 1861 arrived secretly in disguise to Washington, DC. Southerners ridiculed Lincoln for this subterfuge, but the efforts at security may have been prudent. At Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Turners formed Lincoln's bodyguard; and a sizable garrison of federal troops was also present, ready to protect the president and the capital from rebel invasion. In his Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, Lincoln declared, "I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments", arguing further that the purpose of the Constitution was "to form a more perfect union" than the Articles of Confederation which were ''explicitly'' perpetual, and thus the Constitution too was perpetual. He asked rhetorically that even were the Constitution construed as a simple contract, would it not require the agreement of all parties to rescind it? Also in his Inaugural Address, Lincoln supported the proposed Corwin amendment to the constitution, of which he was a driving force. This proposed amendment would have explicitly protected slavery in those states in which it already existed, and had already passed both houses. Lincoln, however, adamantly opposed the Crittenden Compromise, which would have permitted slavery in the territories, renewing the boundary set by the Missouri Compromise and extending it to California. Despite support for this compromise among moderate Republicans and across the nation, Lincoln declared that were the Crittenden Compromise accepted, it "would amount to a perpetual covenant of war against every people, tribe, and state owning a foot of land between here and Tierra del Fuego." Lincoln also spurned requests to appoint a Southerner to his cabinet (Sam Houston being a prominent suggestion). After Union troops at Battle of Fort Sumter were fired on and forced to surrender in April, Lincoln called for more troops from each remaining state to recapture forts, protect the capital, and preserve the Union. In response, four more slave states seceded by May 1861, and splinter factions from Missouri and Kentucky joined the Confederacy by December. ===Slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation=== [[Image:Emancipation_proclamation.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862.]] Though Lincoln is well known for ending slavery in the USA and he personally opposed slavery as a moral evil, Lincoln's views of his own Constitutional powers on the subject of slavery are more complicated. He believed that the United States Declaration of Independence's statement that "all men are created equal" should apply also to black slaves, and that slavery was a profound evil which should not spread to the Historic regions of the United States. However, Lincoln maintained that the federal government did not possess the constitutional power to bar slavery in states where it already existed, and he supported American Colonization Society, believing that freed black slaves were too different to live in the same society as white Americans. Lincoln addresses the issue of his consistency (or lack thereof) between his earlier position and his later position of emancipation in an 1864 letter to Albert G. Hodges[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/hodges.htm] See: Abraham Lincoln on slavery Lincoln is often credited with freeing enslaved African-Americans with the Emancipation Proclamation. However, territories and states that still allowed slavery but were under Union control were exempt from the emancipation. The proclamation initially freed only a few escaped slaves, but it also did free slaves in areas of the Confederacy as those areas came under control of Union forces. Lincoln signed the Proclamation as a wartime measure, insisting that only the outbreak of war gave constitutional power to the President to free slaves in states where it already existed. He later said: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." The proclamation made abolishing slavery in the rebel states an official war goal and it became the impetus for the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the United States Constitution which abolished slavery. Politically, the Emancipation Proclamation did much to help the Northern cause; Lincoln's strong abolitionist stand finally convinced United Kingdom and other foreign countries that they could not support the South. ==Important non-Civil War measures of Lincoln's first term== Perhaps Lincoln's most important contribution as President, outside of his military leadership as Commander-in-Chief, was his signing of the Homestead Act in 1862, though Lincoln had little do with the drafting of the act or its passage in Congress. Considered by some to be the most important piece of legislation in American history, the Act made available millions of acres of government-held land in the midwest for purchase at very low cost. Any male over 21 could obtain a Homestead tract of 160 acres (647,000 m²) simply by filing a claim and paying a processing fee of $18. The land had then to be lived upon, built up, and improved, for a period of no less than 5 years. Many were more than willing to take up this challenge. The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, also signed by Lincoln in 1862, provided government grants for agricultural universities throughout the American states. Such universities -- often founded in Homesteading states -- provided education and know-how for masses of local Homesteaders. They helped found the concept of scientific Agriculture and, perhaps more importantly, helped democratize American education. Like the Homestead Act, Lincoln had little to do with this act's framing or passage in Congress. After the "Sioux_Uprising " of August 1862 in Minnesota, Lincoln was presented with 303 death warrants for convicted Santee Dakota who had taken part. Of these, Lincoln only affirmed 39 men for execution (one was later reprieved). Lincoln was strongly chastised for this action in Minnesota and throughout his administration because many felt that all 303 Native Americans should have been executed. Reaction in Minnesota was so strong concerning Lincoln's leniency toward the Native Americans that Republicans lost their political strength in the state in 1864. Lincoln's response was, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." ==Civil War and reconstruction== ===Conducting the war effort=== The war was a source of constant frustration for the president, and it occupied nearly all of his time. Lincoln had a contentious relationship with General George B. McClellan, who became general-in-chief of all the Union armies in the wake of the embarrassing Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run and after the retirement of Winfield Scott in late 1861. Lincoln wished to take an active part in planning the war strategy despite his inexperience in military affairs. Lincoln's strategic priorities were two-fold: First, to ensure that Washington, D.C., was well-defended; and second, to conduct an aggressive war effort in hopes of ending the war quickly and appeasing the Northern public and press, who pushed for an offensive war. McClellan, a youthful West Point graduate and railroad executive called back to military service, took a more cautious approach. McClellan took several months to plan and execute his Peninsula Campaign, which involved capturing Richmond, Virginia by moving the Army of the Potomac by boat to the Virginia Peninsula between the James River (Virginia) and York River (Virginia) . McClellan's delay irritated Lincoln, as did McClellan's insistence that no troops were needed to defend Washington, D.C. Lincoln insisted on holding some of McClellan's troops to defend the capital, a decision McClellan blamed for the ultimate failure of his Peninsula Campaign. McClellan, a lifelong Democrat who was temperamentally conservative, was relieved as general-in-chief after releasing his Harrison's Landing Letter, where he offered unsolicited political advice to Lincoln urging caution in the war effort. McClellan's letter incensed Radical Republicans, who successfully pressured Lincoln to appoint fellow Republican John Pope (military officer) as head of the new Army of Virginia. Pope complied with Lincoln's strategic desire for the Union to move towards Richmond from the north, thus guarding Washington, D.C. However, Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run during the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac back into the defenses of Washington for a second time, leading to Pope's being sent west to fight against the Native American . Panicked by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland, Lincoln restored McClellan to command of all forces around Washington in time for the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. It was the Union victory in that battle that allowed Lincoln to release his Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln relieved McClellan of command shortly after the 1862 midterm elections and appointed Republican Ambrose Burnside to head the Army of the Potomac, who promised to follow through on Lincoln's strategic vision for an aggressive offensive against Lee and Richmond. After Burnside was embarrassingly routed at Battle of Fredericksburg , Joseph Hooker assumed command, but was routed at Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863 and also relieved of command. After the Union victory at Battle of Gettysburg and months of inactivity for the Army of the Potomac, Lincoln made the fateful decision to appoint a new army commander: General Ulysses S. Grant, who was disfavored by Republican hardliners because he had been a Democrat, but who had a solid string of victories in the Western Theater, including Battle of Vicksburg and Battle of Chattanooga III . Earlier, reacting to criticism of Grant, Lincoln was quoted as saying, "I cannot spare this man. He fights." Grant waged his bloody Overland Campaign in 1864, using a strategy of a war of attrition, characterized by high Union losses at battles such as the Battle of the Wilderness and Battle of Cold Harbor , but by proportionately higher losses in the Confederate army. Grant's aggressive campaign would eventually bottle up Robert E. Lee in the Siege of Petersburg and result in the Union taking Richmond and bringing the war to a close in the spring of 1865. Lincoln authorized Grant to used a scorched earth approach to destroy the South's morale and economic ability to continue the war. This allowed Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan to destroy factories, farms, and cities in the Shenandoah Valley, Georgia, and South Carolina. The damage in Sherman's March to the Sea through Georgia totaled in excess of 100 million dollars. Lincoln had a star-crossed record as a military leader, possessing a keen understanding of strategic points (such as the Mississippi River and the fortress city of Vicksburg) and the importance of defeating the enemy's army, rather than simply capturing cities. However, he had little success in his efforts to motivate his generals to adopt his strategies. Eventually, he found in Grant a man who shared his vision of the war and was able to bring that vision into reality with his relentless pursuit of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters of war. Lincoln, perhaps reflecting his lack of military experience, developed a keen curiosity with military campaigning during the war. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office, reading dispatches from his generals through many a night. He frequently visited battle sites and seemed fascinated by watching scenes of war. During Jubal A. Early's Battle of Fort Stevens , in 1864, Lincoln had to be told to duck his head to avoid being shot observing the scenes of battle. ===Homefront=== Lincoln was more successful in giving the war meaning to Northern civilians through his oratorical skills. Despite his meager education and “backwoods” upbringing, Lincoln possessed an extraordinary command of the English language, as evidenced by the Gettysburg Address, a speech dedicating a cemetery of Union soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. While the featured speaker, orator Edward Everett, spoke for two hours, Lincoln's few choice words resonated across the nation and across history, defying Lincoln's own prediction that "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." Lincoln's Lincoln's second inaugural address is also greatly admired and often quoted. In these speeches, Lincoln articulated better than any of his contemporaries the rationale behind the Union effort. During the Civil War, Lincoln exercised powers no previous president had wielded; he proclaimed a blockade, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, spent money without Congress of the United States authorization, and frequently imprisoned accused Southern spies and sympathizers without trial. Some scholars have argued that Lincoln's political arrests extended to the highest levels of the government including an attempted warrant for Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, though the allegation remains unresolved and controversial (see the Taney Arrest Warrant controversy). Lincoln was the only U.S. President to face a presidential election during a civil war (in U.S. presidential election, 1864). The long war and the issue of emancipation appeared to be severely hampering his prospects and an electoral defeat appeared likely against the United States Democratic Party nominee and former general, George McClellan. Lincoln ran under the Union party banner, composed of War Democrats and Republicans. General Grant was facing severe criticism for his conduct of the bloody Overland Campaign that summer and the seemingly endless Siege of Petersburg. However, the Union capture of the key railroad center of Atlanta, Georgia by William Tecumseh Sherman's forces in September changed the situation dramatically and Lincoln was reelected. ===Reconstruction=== The reconstruction of the Union weighed heavy on the President's mind throughout the war effort. He was determined to take a course that would not permanently alienate the former Confederate states, and throughout the war Lincoln urged speedy elections under generous terms in areas behind Union lines. This irritated congressional Republicans, who urged a more stringent Reconstruction policy. One of Lincoln's few vetoes during his term was of the Wade-Davis bill, an effort by congressional Republicans to impose harsher Reconstruction terms on the Confederate areas. Republicans in Congress retaliated by refusing to seat representatives elected from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee during the war under Lincoln's generous terms. "Let 'em up easy," he told his assembled military leaders Ulysses S. Grant (a future president), William Tecumseh Sherman and David Dixon Porter in an 1865 meeting on the steamer River Queen. When Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, was at long last captured, Lincoln went there to make a public gesture of sitting at Jefferson Davis's own desk, symbolically saying to the nation that the President of the United States held authority over the entire land. He was greeted at the city as a conquering hero by freed slaves, whose sentiments were epitomized by one admirer's quote, "I know I am free for I have seen the face of Father Abraham and have felt him." On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This left only Joseph Johnston's forces in the East to deal with. Weeks later Johnston would defy Jefferson Davis and surrender his forces to Sherman. Of course, Lincoln would not survive to see the surrender of all Confederate forces; just days after Lee surrendered, Lincoln was assassination. ==Assassination== [[Image:Lincolnassassination.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln, and Booth.]] Lincoln had met frequently with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as the war drew to a close. The two men planned matters of reconstruction, and it was evident to all that they held each other in high regard. During their last meeting, on April 14, 1865 (Good Friday), Lincoln invited Grant to a social engagement that evening. Grant declined (Grant's wife, Julia Dent Grant, is said to have strongly disliked Mary Todd Lincoln). The President's eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, also turned down the invitation. Without his bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, to whom he related his famous dream of his own assassination, the Lincolns left to attend a play at Ford's Theater. The play was ''Our American Cousin'', a musical comedy by the British writer Tom Taylor (1817-1880). As Lincoln sat in his state box in the balcony, John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Southern sympathizer from Maryland, crept up behind the President and aimed a single-shot, round-slug .44 caliber Deringer at his head, firing at point-blank range. He shouted "''Sic semper tyrannis!''" (Latin: "Thus always to tyrants," and Virginia's state motto; some accounts say he added "The South is avenged!") and jumped from the balcony to the stage below. Booth managed to limp to his horse and escape, and the mortally wounded President was taken to a house across the street, now called the Petersen House, where he lay in a coma for some time before he quietly expired. Abraham Lincoln was officially pronounced dead at 7:22 AM the next morning, April 15, 1865 (Easter). Upon seeing him die, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton lamented "Now he belongs to the ages." Booth and several other conspirators had planned to kill a number of other government officials at the same time, but for various reasons Lincoln's was the only assassination actually carried out (although Secretary of State William H. Seward was badly injured by an assailant). Several of the conspirators were eventually captured. Four people were tried by military tribunal and hanged for the assassination plot (David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), and Mary Surratt, the first woman ever executed by the United States government.) Three people were sentenced to life imprisonment (Michael O'Laughlin, Samuel Arnold, and Dr. Samuel Mudd). Edward Spangler (aka Edman aka Ned) was sentenced to six years imprisonment. John Surratt, tried later by a civilian court, was acquitted. The fairness of the convictions, particularly of Mary Surratt, have been called into question, and there are doubts as to the exact degree of her involvement, if any. Booth himself was shot when discovered holed up in a barn (the barn itself collapsed in the 1930s and the site is now the median of a state highway in Virginia). Lincoln's body was carried by train in a grand funeral procession through several states on its way back to Illinois. The nation mourned a man whom many viewed as the savior of the United States. He was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, where a 177 foot (54 m) tall granite tomb surmounted with several bronze statues of Lincoln was constructed by 1874. To prevent continued attempts to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, Robert Todd Lincoln had Lincoln exhumed and reinterred in concrete several feet thick on September 26, 1901. ''See Abraham Lincoln's Burial and Exhumation''. Many medical experts now suspect that Lincoln may have suffered from congestive heart failure and Marfan Syndrome, both of which can be fatal. ==Legacy and memorials== Lincoln's death made the President a martyr to many. Today he is perhaps America's second most famous and beloved President after George Washington. Among contemporary admirers, Lincoln is usually seen as a figure who personifies classical values of honesty, integrity, as well as respect for individual and minority rights, and human freedom in general. Many American organizations of all purposes and agendas continue to cite his name and image, with interests ranging from the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans to the insurance corporation Lincoln Financial Group. [[Image:Lincoln_statue.jpg|thumbnail|200px|Daniel Chester French's seated ''Lincoln'' faces the National Mall to the east.]] Over the years Lincoln has been memorialized in many city names, notably the Lincoln, Nebraska; with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC (''illustrated, right''); on the U.S. U.S. five dollar bill and the Penny (U.S. coin) (Illinois is the primary opponent to the removal of the penny from circulation); and as part of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Lincoln's Tomb, Lincoln's Home in Springfield, New Salem, Illinois (a reconstruction of Lincoln's early adult hometown), Ford's Theater and Petersen House are all preserved as museums, the nickname for the state of Illinois is "Land of Lincoln" named after him. On February 12, 1892 Abraham Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a federal holiday in the United States, though in 1971 it was combined with Washington's birthday in the form of President's Day. February 12 is still observed as a separate legal holiday in many states, including Illinois. Lincoln's birthplace and family home are national historic memorials: Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville, KY and Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Ill.. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is also in Springfield. The statue of Lincoln that is furthest south is outside the USA – in Mexico. A gift from the United States, dedicated in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it is a 13 foot high bronze statue in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The USA received a statue of Benito Juárez in exchange, which is in Washington, DC. Juárez and Lincoln exchanged friendly letters, and Mexico remembers Lincoln's opposition to the Mexican-American War. There are also at least two statues of Lincoln in England, one in London and another in Manchester . The ballistic missile submarine USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602) and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) were named in his honor. Famous director Steven Spielberg is currently planning a movie on Abraham Lincoln with Liam Neeson in the leading role. The American Disney theme parks feature an Audio-Animatronics Abraham Lincoln in the show Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Hall of Presidents. ==Presidential appointments== ===Cabinet=== {| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4" style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #000000;" align="left" !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|OFFICE||align="left"|NAME||align="left"|TERM |- !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|President of the United States||align="left" |Abraham Lincoln||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|Vice President of the United States||align="left"|Hannibal Hamlin||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Andrew Johnson||align="left"|1865 |- !bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"| |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of State||align="left"|William H. Seward||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Treasury||align="left"|Salmon P. Chase||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|William P. Fessenden||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Hugh McCulloch||align="left"|1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of War||align="left"|Simon Cameron||align="left"|1861–1862 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Edwin M. Stanton||align="left"|1862–1865 |- |align="left"|Attorney General of the United States||align="left"|Edward Bates||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|James Speed||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"|Postmaster General of the United States||align="left"|Horatio King||align="left"|1861 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|Montgomery Blair||align="left"|1861–1864 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|William Dennison (Ohio governor)||align="left"|1864–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Navy||align="left"|Gideon Welles||align="left"|1861–1865 |- |align="left"|United States Secretary of the Interior||align="left"|Caleb B. Smith||align="left"|1861–1863 |- |align="left"| ||align="left"|John P. Usher||align="left"|1863–1865 |}
=== Supreme Court === Lincoln appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States: *Noah Haynes Swayne - 1862 *Samuel Freeman Miller - 1862 *David Davis (senator) - 1862 *Stephen Johnson Field - 1863 *Salmon P. Chase - Chief Justice of the United States - 1864 ==Major presidential acts== ;Involvement as President-elect *Morrill tariff *Corwin amendment ;Enacted as President *Signed Revenue Act of 1861 *Signed Homestead Act *Signed Morrill Act *Established Bureau of Agriculture (1862) *Signed National Banking Act ==States admitted to the Union== *West Virginia – June 20, 1863 *Nevada – October 31, 1864 ==Related articles== *Origins of the American Civil War *Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences *List of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations *World Almanac's Ten Most Influential People of the Second Millennium *Movies: ''D.W. Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln''', ''The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln'' *Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum == Further reading == *''Lincoln'' by David Herbert Donald ISBN 068482535X *''Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era'' by David Herbert Donald ISBN 0375725326 *''Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President'' by Allen C. Guelzo ISBN 0802842933 *''Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln'' by C. A. Tripp ISBN 0743266390 *''Abraham Lincoln's DNA and other adventures in genetics'' by Philip Reilly (2000) ISBN 0879695803 *''The Real Lincoln'' by Thomas DiLorenzo ISBN 0761526463 ==External links== *[http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln77.html Especially for Students: An Overview of Abraham Lincoln's Life] *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library] *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress] (1850-1865) *[http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html Abraham Lincoln's Program of Black Resettlement] *[http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html Abraham Lincoln Research Site] *[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761577113#endads Abraham Lincoln] - Encarta *[http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org Abraham Lincoln Online] *[http://www.hti.umich.edu/l/lincoln/ The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln] *[http://deptorg.knox.edu/lincolnstudies/ Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College] *[http://www.sonofthesouth.net/prod01.htm Original 1860's Harper's Weekly Images and News on Abraham Lincoln] *[http://dev.stg.brown.edu/projects/lincoln/ The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln] *[http://www.nps.gov/linc/ Lincoln Memorial] Wahington,DC * *[http://www.thelincolnmuseum.org The Lincoln Museum]Fort Wayne, Indiana *[http://www.lincolnherald.com/1970articleSubstitute.html John Summerfield Staples, President Lincoln's "Substitute"] * [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6469.WKU.&OS=PN/6469&RS=PN/6469 US6469] Patent -- ''Manner of Bouying Vessels'' -- A. Lincoln -- 1849 ===Documents at Project Gutenberg=== ====''by'' Abraham Lincoln==== *Speeches and addresses ** ** ** ** ** ** *''The Writings of Abraham Lincoln'' ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *Miscellany ** ** ====''about'' Lincoln==== *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6812 Volume 1] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11708 Volume 2] of ''Abraham Lincoln: a History'' (1890) by John Hay (1835-1905) & John George Nicolay (1832-1901) *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1815 eText of ''The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1907) by Nicolay, Helen (1866-1954) *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6811 eText of ''The Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1901) by Henry Ketcham *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12800 Volume 1] and [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12801 Volume 2] of ''Abraham Lincoln'' (1899) by John T. Morse *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14004 eText of ''The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln''] (1913) by Francis Fisher Browne *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11728 eText of ''Abraham Lincoln: The People's Leader in the Struggle for National Existence''] (1909) by George Haven Putnam, Litt. D. *[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1713 eText of ''Lincoln's Personal Life''] (1999) by Nathaniel W. Stephenson 1809 births 1865 deaths People from Kentucky Murder victims Abraham Lincoln American Civil War people American lawyers Autodidacts Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Murdered presidents Presidents of the U.S. U.S. Army officers U.S. Republican Party presidential nominees Welsh-Americans Christian people simple:Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
== Lincoln's height== I'm surprised that the tallest president of the US doesn't have his height listed. "Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, at a time when the median height of adult men in the United States was 5 feet 6 inches. He attained this height at age 17. Although an excellent athlete, he was lean all his life... Lincoln's height came from his legs. Sitting, he was no taller than the average man. The legs sprouted from size 14 feet." That information was from http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g16.htm. I just did a quick search and don't look at the rest of the site to see how legitate it is. If you are more interested about his height, there is controversy that his height might have been from Marfan syndrome, though I don't know anything about that. == What things were named after Lincoln? == Washington Times reports that a wasp and a rose species were named after him. There's also USS Abraham Lincoln --User:69.214.227.51 17:49, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Smallpox? == Smallpox mentions that Lincoln contracted smallpox in 1863. Can someone elaborate/work that into the article, if factual (or correct Smallpox if not). User:199.8.171.180 22:39, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Moved footnote == User:Tim Chambers/Abraham Lincoln (Just moving the link to this page because it is not actually an encyclopedia article. --:Larry Sanger) ==Moved text == The following is the text of a recent revision. It was removed because it is non-NPOV, and is a childish attempt at expanding the article. I would fix this article myself, but I don't have the time to clean up after others who don't take pride in their work. --user:maveric149 ''Born on February 12 1809 in Kentucky, he moved at a young age to the area near Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln was elected president in 1860, when the republic was in crisis. Southern states had made clear their belief in the right to secede from the Union. Lincoln was commander-in-chief during the American Civil War. He wrote and delivered the Gettysburg Address, perhaps the greatest piece of oratory ever delivered in North America. Another astonishing speech is Lincoln's second Inaugural. Lincoln might have been a great novelist or biographer had he not become a professional politician. One of the most respected and beloved presidents, Lincoln was also reviled by millions of people, especially in the slave and border states. When President Harry Truman, of Independence, Missouri laid a wreath on the grave of Abraham Lincoln, he caught hell from his mother, who recalled with bitterness the depradations on family property committed by Union radicals in the name of Lincoln. Lincoln has been memorialized in many city names, notably the Lincoln, Nebraska, in corporate and product names, and with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C..'' ==Truncated sentence == This sentence was truncated: "Shortly after his election, the South made it clear that secession was inevitable and war was all but impossible to avoid." I would restore myself but all I know about this dude is that he didn't like the theatre much -- User:Tarquin 00:21 Oct 1, 2002 (UTC) :Look at it this way - war was not inevitable - the north could simply have let the south secede. Look at it another way - it takes two to tango - the north didn't have to fight. ==Alleged factual errors == There are several factual errors in this article, some of them quite glaring. I don't have the time or desire to fact check and rewrite this, but I will point out a couple of the major mistakes in the hope that any school kids wishing to use this as "research" will think twice and find a real encyclopedia. The most glaring errors: Lincoln was never elected to the U.S. Senate. He served only one term in the House of Representatives from 1848-1850, well before he became president. :This is true. Another problem with this piece of garbage article is that it skips over a whole state that Lincoln lived in: Indiana. He lived there from a very young age and then moved to New Salem, Illinois at about 20 years of age. Did a sixth grader write this? Stephen Douglas did run for president against AL in 1860. However, the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates that this article refers to (which are in fact very well-documented, which is why this error is so unforgivable) happened many years earlier when Lincoln ran against Douglas for the Senate seat in Illinois. Lincoln lost that election. Also, Lincoln was a great orator but that had no impact on his presidential election. Because at the time, presdential candidates did not campaign. Their parties campaigned on their behalf and Lincoln gave almost no public addresses between the nominating convention and the election. :You're right about Lincoln not campaigning for the election but to claim that his oratory skills had no impact on his presidential election is ludicrous. If it were not for his oratory skills such as those on display in his "house divided" speech, he would never have been in a position to be elected president. ==Picture not of AL? == Thats a very interesting early degurreotype of Lincoln in the article but I don't believe its him. Being a presidential history buff as well as a memorabilia collector, I've seen many a picture of Honest Abe, but never this one. If you've got any info on it, I'd like to here about it. User:Longevitymonger ===response to question on lincoln picture=== I did a little research, and you can find "information" on the image at: http://www.lincolnportrait.com/ Interesting to note that they are trying to sell the original on ebay for $9,000,000 on ebay. hmmmm. == Lincoln's Honor rank == Go to the bottom of the Talk:George Washington page and look at the honored Americans. Does Lincoln go anywhere in the range from 5 to 10?? User:66.245.115.51 00:14, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC) ==removed link== I removed a link that was labeled "Lincoln Inougural address in different formats" because it was pointing to a pornographic site unrelated to Abraham Lincoln. ==Lincoln car== Is it worth noteing that he's the namesake of the Lincoln (automobile) company? -- User:Stewacide 05:43, 5 May 2004 (UTC) : I think that would be more appropriately listed on the auto's page than on his; his page would get more than slightly cluttered if it noted ''all'' the things and people named after him. You'd still be able to find many of them through the "What Links Here" option. User:MisfitToys 23:38, May 5, 2004 (UTC) ==Mary Surratt== In this article it says Mary Surratt was later proved innocent. Why does it say nothing about that on her page? User:Munkee 18:12, 5 May 2004 (UTC) :Because it's not true. She wasn't proved innocent. The exact degree of her involvement in the conspiracy is questioned, and some have maintained that she was an innocent "bystander", but the testimony of one of her boarders, Lewis Weichmann, and of John Lloyd, from whom she attempted to obtain "firing irons" implicates her as playing at least some role. Weichmann stood by his testimony on his deathbed in 1902. In 1977, the diary of Georg Atzerodt was found, and it provides evidence that Mary Surratt travelled to Surrattsville on the day of the assassination to check on the weapons. It didn't help Mary Surratt that she lied at her own trial. Anyway, I'll adjust this article to be less "certain" of her innocence. - User:Nunh-huh 21:56, 9 May 2004 (UTC) ==Hardin County== Do you not understand how many generations of American kids were taught that Abe Lincoln was born in Hardin County? I even wrote (an atrocious) poem about it third grade. User:RickKUser talk:RickK 21:44, 9 May 2004 (UTC) == NPOV == Please read the Wikipedia policy page on Neutral Point of View then ask yourself how this article is or is not in compliance with the policy. For example, after reading about NPOV, take a look at what the article says about the Gettysburg Address, and compare it to what the NPOV page said about how Wikipidia articles are to be written. User:ChessPlayer 13:13, 14 May 2004 (UTC) :Good point. This is one of the usual write-ups that makes Lincoln into a mythological hero. I don't know how it got featured status. User:172 02:37, 15 May 2004 (UTC) :: As no one is moving to fix this article, I made a small step in the direction of transforming it from a biased article into one consistant with the NPOV policy. I attributed an opinion asserted by the article, that Lincoln was a "masterful politician," to un-named "historians", as I am sure some historians somewhere believe this, so its fact. Still, this is by no means satisfactory, and better yet would be if whoever originally created the claim, stepped forward and cited his sources, attributing the opinion to them, and not the article. User:ChessPlayer 00:10, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::Actually, that's not a glorification of Lincoln. Calling him a "masterful politician" is a value-neutral statement. Stalin, for example, was a deft politician as well, that is when it came to consolidating his own personal power. User:172 00:28, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::: I didn't say it was a glorification. The point is, its an opinion, and articles may not assert opinions, they only may give facts. If opinions are stated, they must be cited with whose opinion they are. User:ChessPlayer 00:39, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::::You seem to be adhering to quite an extreme interpretation of NPOV policies. User:172 00:41, 17 May 2004 (UTC) :::::I am adhereing to what it states on the policy page; it is not extreme to simply follow what it says. Wikipidia articles can assert facts, but can only attribute opinions, not assert them. I agree with your opinion of Lincoln. I think he was a deft politician. But that doesn't mean we can make the article say that; we do have to follow the rules. There is good reason to, too, it vastly increases the ability of people to cooperate if they don't have to fight over what opinions will be asserted by the article. User:ChessPlayer 00:52, 17 May 2004 (UTC) ::::::If it helps you sleep better at night, cite historians such as David Herbert Donald and Alan Nevins. User:172 01:03, 17 May 2004 (UTC) I didn't see anything in the NPOV policy about external links. I submitted the following be added to this article's external links http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/lincoln-arch.html . However the link was removed for being "viciously biased." While the articles in this archive are outside of the maintstream of Lincoln literature, I do believe they serve a great purpose of giving a better overall picture of Lincoln's life and his public policies. These articles were written by many different scholars, historians, and economists and I feel they are a great resource for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln. I am hoping to get some input on whether this link should be added to the article. Thanks. --User:JimGar 17:49, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC) :I agree the http://www.Lewrockwell.com/orig2/lincoln-arch.html link should be listed. It gives the negative side of the story about Lincoln that no one hears about in the media or in government schools. Its very biased, but just imagine if one-hundred years from now the only accepted history is that President Clintion was an honest man or that President Bush invaded Iraq to "free the Iraqies". It's like that in my eyes. User:markes15 20:44, 13 December 2004 (UTC) ==Deletion of Racist Quotes== Wikisux, if you think the racist quotes should be deleted, could you explain why? Surely the more information in the article, the better? User:Rosemaryamey 17:04, 30 May 2004 (UTC) :Hnnuh? Take a closer look. There's a reason I labeled my edit "remove duplicate section"... unless you think that section is important enough to appear ''twice'' in the article, I would recommend you get rid of it again. :-) ''-- User:Wikisux 18:28, 30 May 2004 (UTC)'' ::Never mind, I took care of it myself. ''-- User:Wikisux 03:37, 31 May 2004 (UTC)'' :::D'oh! Sorry about that... User:Rosemaryamey 04:32, 31 May 2004 (UTC) I have trouble with the following: "Canadian ethicist David Sztybel has found many examples of racism in Lincoln's speeches and writings." The examples that follow don't seem to show that Szrtbel did anything that one can call "finding." No especial diligence was required. He simply looked up familiar sources in equally familiar reference works or collections. The better verb would be that he "collected" not that he "found" such statements, since they plainly weren't lost. --User:Christofurio 19:29, Jul 25, 2004 (UTC) ==Content stolen by Civil War site? == Contributors to this page may wish to know someone has stolen the content without credit, violating our license. See Wikipedia:Copies of Wikipedia content (low degree of compliance), section Civil-War.ws. You may wish to contact the site at info@civil-war.ws to voice a complaint. User:Dcoetzee 00:40, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC) ==AL an "abolitionist"? == :I made two minor edits to the section "Assassination," correcting the official time of death and the name of one of the conspirators (Edward Spangler). I was rather suprised, however, to see Lincoln incorrectly characterized as an "abolitionist" at the time of his election in the introduction, despite the accurate summary of his views on slavery given in the section "Lincoln on Slavery." At that time Lincoln was certainly not an abolitionist, despite his personal anti-slavery sentiments. :It is very well documented that in 1860 and previously, Lincoln was adamantly opposed to the extension of slavery into states and territories where it had not previously existed, but was reluctant to attack the "peculiar institution" where it was already established. This was likely in the vain and unrealistic hope that such a quarantine would lead to the eventual end of slavery. There is more than adequate evidence that despite Lincoln's personal abhorrence of slavery, he felt the country was not yet prepared for outright abolition and thus refused to advocate it, to the anger and disgust of the abolitionists. It remains to Lincoln's credit, however, that when he perceived changes of circumstance during the war that would allow for the weakening or destruction of slavery, he did not shrink from exploiting them. --User:Edeans 00:08, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC) ---- I've seen this here & in the article on Lincoln & slavery :''Lincoln believed that African-Americans were entitled to "natural rights" as declared in the Declaration of Independence, but not necessarily civil or political rights'', Can anyone elaborate? Don't all rights flow from natural rights, according to theory at the time?--User:JimWae 05:31, 2005 Jan 4 (UTC) ::The "natural rights" stated in the Declaration of Independence are "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The right to vote, hold office, and so on were often considered distinct. Women in 19th-century America, for instance, could be argued to possess the former set of rights but not the latter. User:Funnyhat 22:36, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- ==User:LinkBot/suggestions/Abraham Lincoln== An User:LinkBot has some possible wiki link suggestions for the article, and they have been placed on User:LinkBot/suggestions/ for your convenience.
''Tip:'' Some people find it helpful if these suggestions are shown on this talk page, rather than on another page. To do this, just add