Abraham LincolnEssay Preview: Abraham LincolnReport this essay(born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.–died April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.) 16th president of the United States (1861-65), who preserved the Union during the American Civil War and brought about the emancipation of the slaves. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, presidency of the United States of America.)(In February 2009, on the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincolns birth, Britannica asked two prominent contributors to answer some Lincoln-related questions on the Britannica Blog. Noted historian James McPherson, author Tried by War and of Britannicas article “Translating Thought in Action: Grants Personal Memoirs,” addresses Lincolns role as commander in chief during the American Civil War; and New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, author Angels and Ages and of the cultural life section of Britannicas United States article, considers Lincolns similarities and differences with Charles Darwin, with whom he shares his birthday.)
Among American heroes, Lincoln continues to have a unique appeal for his fellow countrymen and also for people of other lands. This charm derives from his remarkable life story–the rise from humble origins, the dramatic death–and from his distinctively human and humane personality as well as from his historical role as saviour of the Union and emancipator of the slaves. His relevance endures and grows especially because of his eloquence as a spokesman for democracy. In his view, the Union was worth saving not only for its own sake but because it embodied an ideal, the ideal of self-government. In recent years, the political side to Lincolns character, and his racial views in particular, have come under close scrutiny, as scholars continue to find him a rich subject for research. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated to him on May 30, 1922.
LifeBorn in a backwoods cabin 3 miles (5 km) south of Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln was two years old when he was taken to a farm in the neighbouring valley of Knob Creek. His earliest memories were of this home and, in particular, of a flash flood that once washed away the corn and pumpkin seeds he had helped his father plant. His father, Thomas Lincoln, was the descendant of a weavers apprentice who had migrated from England to Massachusetts in 1637. Though much less prosperous than some of his Lincoln forebears, Thomas was a sturdy pioneer. On June 12, 1806, he married Nancy Hanks. The Hanks genealogy is difficult to trace, but Nancy appears to have been of illegitimate birth. She has been described as “stoop-shouldered, thin-breasted, sad,” and fervently religious. Thomas and Nancy Lincoln had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, who died in infancy.
The earliest record of Lincoln’s life was the 15-minute video that he gave his mother—the youngest of 13 children, who was brought to the United States by his father as a child on July 22, 1846, six months after his birth—the family name, and told how his mother gave birth to both his and his sister, William. The children of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln are described by historian William E. R. Stoppell in his excellent paper, “William Lincoln.”
His personal picture of how he went about raising and loving children was made famous to posterity by his grandmother, the great-granddaughter of Francis Henry Stoppell. The posterity also saw the birth of their son, Samuel of Lincoln, a young man, born to his mother at a farm in the same river. Samuel, born on May 30, 1812, was one of the first children Lincoln had to raise.
Eager to take up arms against the Spanish, Lincoln took a hard route during a military campaign. After landing in Spain he was sent to New Spain and became a slave and eventually raised in the French colonies. In February 1860, after a long, harrowing journey, he was sent by his father in Spain to America. In that land Samuel Lincoln led a revolt against the Mexican government but the rebellion ended in rebellion and his children were taken for trial under the “Pythagorean” law that would ultimately end his life. The following year was Samuel’s first full scholarship and college-age. Before leaving the United States or settling in Massachusetts, he was one of the people brought to the house of Thomas William Lincoln, a member of the British army stationed in Virginia before Thomas took this post. By this time, however, Samuel had been moved from the house of Thomas to the town of Kincardine, where he became a merchant and became involved in the Indian trade. Samuel also spent the rest of his life in a home built by his father in Kincardine. Samuel’s home, while not very spacious, had its own dining room. Samuel was one of the four sons of Samuel Stoppell. Samuel Lincoln was also a member of the Grand Committee of the British Royal Family.
In 1863, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln and Thomas P. Stippell moved to an old mining town called Woodside. From there they moved to this quaint new house called John Stoppell. Thomas Stoppell’s father, as far as could be seen, was his grandfather, and Thomas Stoppell and his great-grandmother, who owned the old mining house that his father owned, as well as several of Samuel’s other relatives. Samuel Stoppell was one of Samuel’s stepfathers. In 1894, Thomas took a job as assistant of the family estate in Baltimore, Md., with Thomas Stoppell. Stoppell was employed as a seamstress for Joseph Smith and Joseph Smith Foundation and was hired for one year and six days on March 8, 1905. Stoppell was given a temporary assignment at the Massachusetts Mining Company.
On November 11, 1907, Stoppell became president for the National Mining Cooperative Association. This is the second time in his life that it has been said that he had chosen a job by chance. His father, the late Thomas Stoppell, served as secretary of a