Table of Contents Introduction 6 Chapter One From Humble Origins 10 Chapter Two To Washington DC and Back Again 24 Chapter Three Winning the Presidency 36 Chapter Four The Civil War Begins 46 Chapter Five African Americans Slavery and War 56 Chapter Six Foreign and Domestic Affairs 66 Chapter Seven Lincoln’s Legacy 76 Timeline 91 Source Notes 92 Glossary 96 Selected Bibliography 98 Further Information 99 Index 101
Introduction Acrowd gathered in a field outside the small town of Gettysburg Pennsylvania on a chilly afternoon in November 1863 Four months earlier Gettysburg had seen one of the fiercest battles of the American Civil War 1861 1865 Two years before that the country had split into the proslavery South and the antislavery North The nation was now at war On July 1 1863 General Robert E Lee had led the Confederate forces of the South to Gettysburg to confront Union forces in the North After three days Union soldiers under General George Meade drove Lee’s troops back About 50,000 soldiers from both sides were casualties killed wounded captured or missing An estimated 3,155 Union soldiers and 4,708 Confederate soldiers lay dead The dead bodies would decay quickly in the summer heat so the soldiers were hastily buried in graves in the surrounding countryside Pennsylvania’s governor set aside land for an official cemetery at Gettysburg where the Union soldiers could be reburied with honor and ceremony After the war most of the Confederate dead were reburied in the South Crowds gathered for the cemetery’s dedication on November 19 Famous speechmaker Edward Everett was to be the main speaker and an additional guest was invited to share his thoughts President Abraham Lincoln Everett spoke first A gifted orator he used beautiful turns of phrase at Gettysburg to speak for two hours about poetry and history The crowd listened in silence some people moved to tears 6
In 1863 the United States was in the midst of a bitter civil war Dead soldiers cover this battlefield at Gettysburg Pennsylvania in July Lincoln’s Speech Then Lincoln stepped up to the podium He had carefully crafted his speech writing and rewriting it over several days In contrast to Everett Lincoln spoke for only two minutes His words were heartfelt for he had visited many battlefields met many soldiers and seen death and destruction in his own life The struggles tearing apart the nation hurt him deeply He appealed to the crowd’s patriotism and provided reassurance that the prolonged conflict was serving a meaningful cause worth suffering for Delivering what is known as the Gettysburg Address Lincoln began by reminding the crowd that their ancestors had created a new country only fourscore and seven years ago or eighty-seven years ago Lincoln was referring to 1776 when the founders of the United States had signed the Declaration of Independence 7
