how did abraham lincoln get the nickname honest abe

[359] A 2004 study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked Lincoln number one, while legal scholars placed him second after George Washington. 7. The nicknames given to Americas commanders in chief have been as varied as the people themselves. [b] The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. Always comfortable telling jokes and stories around the men of Springfield, he usually was awkward and self-conscious around women. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services. Harrison was an old war hero, thanks to his 1811 victory over Native American leader Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and the campaign slogan and song of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too helped propel the pair into the White House. Ramsey to fight the Sioux on September 26, 1862. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He kept his word and, on January 1, 1863, issued the Emancipation Proclamation,[224] freeing the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control,[225] with exemptions specified for areas under such control. Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing[315] or in silent grief. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. When Lincoln ran for president in two years, friends and supporters looked to turn his humble background to his advantage, marching into the Republican National Convention in Chicago with a set of fence rails that they claimed Lincoln, the Railsplitter, had split in his youth. . The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869. Honest Abe's Early Success Boosted by Television The Great Emancipator wasn't quite WWE material, but thanks to his long limbs he was an accomplished wrestler as a young man. [236], General Ulysses Grant's victories at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign impressed Lincoln. He arranged for an intermediary to inquire into Grant's political intentions, and once assured that he had none, Lincoln promoted Grant to the newly revived rank of Lieutenant General, a rank which had been unoccupied since George Washington. [231], Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863. [230] By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas had recruited 20 regiments of blacks from the Mississippi Valley. [370][371] Bennett won wide attention when he called Lincoln a white supremacist in 1968. What was Abraham Lincolns personal life like? "[168], Lincoln tacitly supported the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, which passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the states when Lincoln took office. In the late 1970s, The New York Times noted that Reagan was a great communicator, and the apt phrase stuck, as Reagan mastered mass media as a new political tool. Meet our Contributing Editors [6][c] Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before the family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s. Some one gave him the wrong amount of change, so. [235], Defying his prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here", the Address became the most quoted speech in American history. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Every Candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, These 10 Jimmy Carter Quotes Will Inspire You, 4 U.S. Presidents Who Won the Nobel Peace Prize, How Little-Known Jimmy Carter Won the 1976 Primary, George H.W. Honest Abe: Abraham Lincoln and the Moral Character, PA Certificate of Charitable Registration, Teaching America in the Civil War Era, 1829-77. 6 No. Mr. Patton has an encylopedic knowledge of frontier lore and the some 4,000 period artifacts on display. In July, the Confiscation Act of 1862 was enacted, providing court procedures to free the slaves of those convicted of aiding the rebellion; Lincoln approved the bill despite his belief that it was unconstitutional. [20] Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln. [287], There were two measures passed to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a Federal income tax. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States and was one of the most important figures during the Civil War. ", "Lincoln and the Problem of Race: A Decade of Interpretations", "Holding Up a Flawed Mirror to the American Soul: Abraham Lincoln in the Writings of Lerone Bennett Jr", "The Obama-Lincoln Parallel: A Closer Look", "Obama to be sworn in with Lincoln, King Bibles", "History of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)", "$18.5million gift to help refurbish Lincoln Memorial", "15 Most Visited National Landmarks in Washington, D.C.", "Abraham Lincoln Historical Tours in Springfield, Illinois", "Why Abraham Lincoln Was Revered in Mexico", "Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln): a bronze statuette by Augustus Saint-Gaudens", "Congress Dedicates Lincoln Room | U.S. Capitol Historical Society", "Legislation to Name Room in US Capitol "Lincoln Room" Passes House", "Abraham Lincoln - Early political career", "Abraham Lincoln: Conservative Statesman", "Abraham Lincoln and the Corwin Amendment", "The Other Civil War Lincoln and the Indians", "Abraham Lincoln and Jacksonian Democracy", Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, The Lincoln Presidential Library's ongoing digitization of all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln complete collected works as edited by Basler et al. After his arrival in Illinois, having no desire to be a farmer, Lincoln tried his hand at a variety of occupations. [216], The Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before 1865 was understood to reserve the issue to the individual states. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons" and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." 6'4" (6' 11" with his top hat). Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. During the early years, the South was winning the war. I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery. [64] Then followed his four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County. All Rights Reserved. [311] President Johnson was sworn in later that same day. ", Lincoln cited his plans for banning the expansion of slavery as the key source of conflict between North and South, stating "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. In 1860 he was nominated at the Republican National Convention to be the partys presidential candidate, and he embarked on a presidential campaign that he would win. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. And James Rutledge, who came from South Carolina, opened the ``town tavern,'' which in those days meant a hotel -- a place to sleep, eat, and get your horse cared for at 37 cents a day. 1. [25], Lincoln was largely self-educated. [274] When the Confederates protested forcing Confederate prisoners to fight Indians, Lincoln revoked the policy and none set foot in Minnesota. When Confederate troops attacked Washington, D.C., in July 1864, Lincoln visited the front lines at Fort Stevens on two days of the battle, which the Union ultimately won. Shortly after being re-elected as President, he was shot and killed at the Ford's Theatre. ", Abraham Lincoln Sr.(1744-1786), Kentucky's Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky Historical Society, 100 West Broadway, Frankfort, Kentucky, Captain Abraham Lincoln of the Illinois militia, Renee Hylton, National Guard Bureau, 111 S. George Mason Dr. An example of an "enemys" respect came in 1858, during Lincoln's Senate race against the powerful incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas. He afterward referred to her as his angel mother.. James Oakes This website uses cookies to Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. [130], Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter and began the fight. Get the scoop on why we celebrate the Fourth of July! [379], Barry Schwartz wrote in 2009 that Lincoln's image suffered "erosion, fading prestige, benign ridicule" in the late 20th century. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He lobbied hard for a military appointment, and despite his reputation for brashness and his fierce temper, he was named major general of the Tennessee militia. [citation needed] One of the Chippewa signing the letter, Chief Naw-Gaw-Nub, had received a Presidential medal from Lincoln earlier in the year.[279]. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. But just a month after being sworn in, Harrison was dead, after contracting a cold-turned-pneumonia while delivering a long inaugural speech in a cold rain. Finally, in search for the reason Lincoln was so adamant about honesty, a quote by one of his closest friends, Leonard Swett, is revealing: "He believed in the great laws of truth, the right discharge of duty, his accountability to God, the ultimate triumph of the right, and the overthrow of wrong. Lincoln is enshrined in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. [100] Lincoln angrily protested the judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay. [316] African Americans were especially moved; they had lost their "Moses". Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. [95] His legal reputation gave rise to the nickname "Honest Abe". [155] Though he did not give public appearances, many sought to visit him and write him. Abraham Lincoln meets with Union troops at Sharpsburg following the battle of Antietam in Maryland on October 3, 1862. Lincoln was the tallest president among all US presidents so far. [149], As the Slave Power tightened its grip on the national government, most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party. Once a person came to buy an item and Abraham Lincoln did not give him the correct amount in change. But Lincoln had already begun to be mythicized during his lifetime, some of his contemporaries drawing parallels between him and figures like George Washington. [321] He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. [144] In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes. What if it were true? Lincoln as commander in chief was honest and straightforward with his generals, always telling them directly what he did and did not appreciate about them. [61], Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 in a backwoods cabin in Kentucky. And having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. The appointments were both politically neutral and adroit on Lincoln's part. [173] The president-elect evaded suspected assassins in Baltimore. The emphasis shifted away from Lincoln the emancipator to an argument that blacks had freed themselves from slavery, or at least were responsible for pressuring the government to emancipate them. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three; but that was all. Apparently the young Lincoln did not read a large number of books but thoroughly absorbed the few that he did read. As States sent Union regiments south, on April 19, Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. [393] Ford's Theatre, among the most visited sites in Washington, D.C.,[393] is across the street from Petersen House, where Lincoln died. [296], Lincoln named his main political rival William H. Seward as Secretary of State, and left most diplomatic issues in his portfolio. The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the confederates to fire the first shot; they did just that."[181]. [210], McClellan then resisted the president's demand that he pursue Lee's withdrawing army, while General Don Carlos Buell likewise refused orders to move the Army of the Ohio against rebel forces in eastern Tennessee. Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision. [270] During his presidency, his policy toward Indians was based on politics. Thomas, born January 1778, would have been 8 at the attack, May 1786. Seeing the Union successfully through the Civil War was Lincolns greatest responsibility, but it wasnt his only triumph during his presidential years. Thats in part because of his assassination by John Wilkes Booth, which happened to occur on Good Fridaya connection that has been drawn time and again. House Divided Project During the Great Depression, he argues, Lincoln served "as a means for seeing the world's disappointments, for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful." The war almost ruined the country and if it did . His homespun manner made him an appealing political candidate. [368], In the Cold War years, Lincoln's image shifted to a symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by Communist regimes. [160], The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. Poet Walt Whitman composed "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" to eulogize him, one of four poems he wrote about Lincoln. He did this at a time when the Constitution, which "tolerated slavery", was the focus of most political discourse. [119] He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". [200], In directing the Union's war strategy, Lincoln valued the advice of Gen. Winfield Scott, even after his retirement as Commanding General of the United States Army. [3] Lincoln was also a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia; his paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba (ne Herring) moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky. Country music radio legend Ralph Emery passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Jan. 15, 2022. [265], Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. [131] In May 1859, Lincoln purchased the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger, a German-language newspaper that was consistently supportive; most of the state's 130,000 German Americans voted for Democrats, but the German-language paper mobilized Republican support. The townfolk were impressed. On June 12, 1806, he married Nancy Hanks. Lincolns body was quickly moved to an unmarked grave and eventually encased in a steel cage and entombed under 10 feet of concrete. He used a loophole in California law to register on both the Democratic and Republican ballots, and then sent out mailers to hundreds of thousands of potential voters, some that falsely claimed that Nixon was a Democrat and others that tried to obscure his party affiliation altogether, in an attempt to attract voters who considered Douglas too radical. He was shot during his eventual capture and died from his wounds. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said, "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether". Minnesota's Governor had made Sibley a Colonel United States Volunteers to command the US force tasked with fighting the war and that eventually defeated Little Crow's forces at the Battle of Wood Lake. NAME: Abraham Lincoln NICKNAMES: Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator BORN: February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky DIED: April 15, 1865, in Washington, D.C. TIME IN OFFICE: March 4,. [273] Lincoln ordered thousands of Confederate prisoners of war sent by railroad to put down the uprising. "[353], In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he explored the nature of democracy. 9 Facts About Abraham Lincoln | HowStuffWorks However Lincoln did select some of the top diplomats as part of his patronage policy. As a young adult, Lincoln worked as a flatboat navigator, storekeeper, soldier, surveyor, and postmaster. [178] In his second inaugural address, Lincoln looked back on the situation at the time and said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. [285], In the selection and use of his cabinet, Lincoln employed the strengths of his opponents in a manner that emboldened his presidency. State Republican parties stressed the perfidy of the Copperheads. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptists church, which forbade alcohol, dancing, and slavery. She has been described as stoop-shouldered, thin-breasted, sad, and fervently religious. [262], After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' may already have a sequel. Lincoln did not migrate to Illinois until 1830. According to his own statement, however, his early surroundings provided absolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. There are documents here concerning Lincolns main political and economic policy doctrines, his legal principles and his struggle with religious beliefs. Secretary of War Stanton had issued orders that Booth be taken alive, so Corbett was initially arrested to be court martialed. Lesson Plans [84], Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. When Douglas was told of Lincoln's victory, he unselfishly told his informants: "You have nominated a very able and very honest man.". In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives, but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. [35][e] Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part due to his father's lack of education. Anti-war Democrats (called "Copperheads") despised Lincoln, and irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements plotted his assassination. [387] While he is usually portrayed bearded, he did not grow a beard until 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell. 12 Presidential Nicknames and Their Unusual Origins, Photo: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images, Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images, Every Candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Jackson lost a closely contested race in 1824, but Old Hickory prevailed in 1828, serving two controversial terms. Lincoln's Gettysburg Addresses Virginia seceded and was rewarded with the designation of Richmond as the Confederate capital, despite its exposure to Union lines. Abraham Lincoln - History He would spend the next 40 years in the military, leading troops in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War and Second Seminole War. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. [111] After leading in the first six rounds of voting, he was unable to obtain a majority. Desertions during 1863 came in the thousands and only increased after Fredericksburg, so Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker. Abraham Lincoln (/lkn/ LINK-n; February 12, 1809 April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. The year was 1831. He first entered national politics in 1847 while serving a single term in Congress. [39] Lincoln and some friends took goods by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was first exposed to slavery. He denounced secession as anarchy, and explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. This message will appear once per week His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they were willing to sign an oath of allegiance.

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