Abraham Lincoln (Two Americas)

Abraham Lincoln was born in the Hardin County, Kentucky (then USA), on February 12, 1809. When he was ten, his family would move to Illinois where he become a self-taught lawyer while serving as a state representative. He served elected to the US House of Representatives However, when he ran for US Senate, he failed twice. However, in the process of the campaigns, he had proven a formidable opponent to the expansion of slavery in the United States. When the Republican party was created to combat slavery, Lincoln was a delegate to the first statewide convention (in neighboring Illinois)in 1854. In 1856, the party nominated John C. Frémont for president. Though Frémont lost, the party became a movement to be reckoned with. In 1860, Lincoln was selected as nominee for president, and was elected to be the last president of an undivided United States.

Early Life
Lincoln was born on the family farm in Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809, to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. Soon after moving to Indiana, Nancy Lincoln became ill, dying in 1818. The next year, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, whom Abraham called "Mother" for the rest of his life. In 1830, Thomas moved the family to Macon County, Illinois.

Marriage and children
Abraham married Mary Todd, daughter of wealthy Kentucky slave owners, in 1842, after having been engaged and breaking up in 1840. The couple would have four sons, with only the first, Robert Todd Lincoln, living to full adulthood. Two of them would die before their father, contributing to mental health difficulties of both parents.

Private Practice
While in the state legislature (a part-time job), Lincoln taught himself law, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1837. He became a successful criminal lawyer, practicing law for twenty-one of the next 23 years, interrupted by two years representing Illinois in the US House of Representives.

State Legislature
In 1832, at the age of 23, Lincoln ran for political office for the first time. He had worked on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and had served in the Black Hawk War as a captain (though not seeing combat), and it was on that experience that he ran his campaign. It was not enough to be elected, but he received 277 votes of the 300 cast in his home district. In 1834, he was elected and continued to serve for four consecutive terms. In 1837 he and another legislator spoken out against slavery, though Lincoln had voted to restrict voting rights to whites only in previous legislative sessions.

National Politics
In 1846, Lincoln turned to national politics, being elected to the US House of Representatives during the presidency of James Polk (D-TN). During his two years there, he spoke out against the Mexican-American War. This lost him support back home, but not before he won the confidence of the next president of the United States. Lincoln had been a supporter of Zachary Taylor (W-VA). When Taylor took office, he had offered Lincoln the governorship of the Oregon Territory. He had refused, noting that the populace there leaned Democrat, and would not likely support him come statehood.

In 1854, Lincoln returned to national politics when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was introduced by his former colleague in the House, and now Senator, Stephen Douglas. In much spirited debates, Lincoln tore apart Douglas' arguments for "popular sovereignty" as he called the concept of pure democracy. To Lincoln, some things, like slavery, were too serious for the federal government to ignore. Finally, in 1858, Lincoln challenged Douglas in the race for Senate. Lincoln was running in the newly created Republican party (founded in 1854 in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act) instead of the still powerful Whig party. Though he lost that election, Lincoln was established as a national figure and was to be the Republican's candidate in 1860. The Democrats would finally run Douglas after passing him by in 1852 and 1856.

First Term
Election of 1860 After losing to William Seward in the first two ballots, Lincoln secured the Republican nomination for president in May of 1860. This was out of a field of thirteen candidates. He would go on to win 39.8% of the popular vote, securing 18 of 22 states where he was on the ballot. Ten of the original eleven Confederate states did not have Lincoln on the ballot, and Virginians only gave him 1.1% of their votes. Lincoln's fellow Illinoisan Douglas was the first candidate to attempt a speaking tour, while the future president made not one speech during the campaign. Douglas won only Missouri and 3 of 7 electoral votes in Delaware (though second in popular vote).

A Rival Nation arises The election of 1860 split the nation into "two Americas," as seven of the fourteen slave states declared themselves a separate nation, the Confederate States of America, in 1861. By the time Lincoln took office, the CSA was a fact. President Buchanan was of a mind to let the states secede, but his cabinet did not go along. And so it was, five weeks after being sworn in (under heavy security), and federal troops of the USA that refused to leave a fort they maintained in South Carolina were fired upon by Confederate gunboats. Lincoln held this to be an act of war. On April 15, 1961, he called on the militias of all the states to muster 75,000 troops to recapture forts, and "preserve the union." This forced other southern and border states to make choices. Many chose to secede. The next four years would prove to the world that Lincoln's war, with his dream of a perpetual union would prove to be both a desperate hope and a nightmare.

The Second American Revolution More to come...