Civil War through the Eyes of Abraham Lincoln

Civil War through the Eyes of Abraham Lincoln — page 5
Abraham and Mary Lincoln had lost a child before But Willie was everyone’s favorite Mary was so upset she could not go to the funeral Lincoln and his son Robert were the only family members who went After the funeral Lincoln kept a picture Willie had painted for him He put it where he could see it every day Conflicted Lincoln was not new to loss He lost his mother when he was very young He lost his first love Ann Rutledge in 1835 And his son Eddie died in 1850 As a politician Lincoln did not want to see his countrymen lose loved ones in a war But he also did not want to see the United States divided Lincoln ran for president in 1860 The issue of slavery split the northern and the southern states at the time Slavery was allowed in all southern states Lincoln did not publicly oppose slavery where it was already allowed But he wanted to stop it from spreading to new US territories 6