Eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln

The legitimacy of military commissions trying opposing combatants had been established during the Mexican War. Pope ordered all detained be tried. Lincoln ordered Pope send all trial transcripts to Washington, where Lincoln and two of his staff examined them. Lincoln realized the trials could be divided into two groups: combat between combatants and combat against civilians.

In the second group were forty cases. One he commuted for becoming a state's witness. Sibley dismissed another when proof surfaced exonerating the defendant. The remaining 38 were executed in the largest eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln execution in U. Congressman Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln inhe would have gotten more re-election support in Minnesota had he executed all of the Mdewakanton.

Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes. Some he released due to the efforts of Bishop Henry Whipple. Lincoln adhered to the Whig theory of a presidency focused on executing laws while deferring to Congress' responsibility for legislating. Under this philosophy, Lincoln vetoed only four bills during his presidency, including the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh Reconstruction program.

The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of and granted federal support for the eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln of the United States' first transcontinental railroadwhich was completed in In the selection and use of his cabinet Lincoln employed the strengths of his opponents in a manner that emboldened his presidency.

Lincoln commented on his thought process, "We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services. There were two measures passed to raise revenues for the federal government: tariffs a policy with long precedentand a federal income tax.

InLincoln signed the second and third Morrill Tariffsfollowing the first enacted by Buchanan. He also signed the Revenue Act ofcreating the first U. The Lincoln Administration presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in other areas. The National Banking Act created the system of national banks. The U. In response to rumors of a renewed draft, the editors of the New York World and the Journal of Commerce published a false draft proclamation that created an opportunity for the editors and others to corner the gold market.

Lincoln attacked the media for such behavior, and ordered a military seizure of the two papers which lasted for two days. Lincoln is largely responsible for the Thanksgiving holiday. It had been sporadically proclaimed by the federal government on irregular dates. The prior proclamation had been during James Madison 's presidency 50 years earlier.

InLincoln declared the final Thursday in November of that year to be a day of Thanksgiving. In June Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress, which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park. Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it.

Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known. Noah Haynes Swayne was an anti-slavery lawyer who was committed to the Union. Samuel Freeman Miller supported Lincoln in the election and was an avowed abolitionist. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced.

Democrat Stephen Johnson Fielda previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Chase, became Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist, would support Reconstruction legislation, and that his appointment united the Republican Party. Lincoln named his main political rival, William H.

Seward, as Secretary of State and left most diplomatic issues in Seward's portfolio. However, Lincoln did select some top diplomats as part of his patronage policy. He was successful after indicating to Britain and France that the Union would declare war on them if they supported the South. John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service.

At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play. At in the evening, Booth entered the back of Lincoln's theater box, crept up from behind, and fired at the back of Lincoln's head, mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest, Major Henry Rathbonemomentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped.

After remaining in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at in the morning on April Two weeks later, Booth, refusing to surrender, was tracked to a farm in Virginia. He was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April Secretary of War Stanton had issued orders that Booth be taken alive, so Corbett was initially arrested to be court martialed.

After a brief interview, Stanton declared him a patriot and dismissed the charge. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his third son Willie then traveled for three weeks on the Lincoln Special funeral train. Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing [ ] or in silent grief.

As a young man Lincoln was a religious skeptic. In the s Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessitya belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power. In the s Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals; instead, he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence.

He wrote at this time that God "could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds. Lincoln believed in an all-powerful God who shaped events and by was expressing that belief in major speeches. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.

Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.

This spirituality can best be seen in his second inaugural address, considered by some scholars [ ] as the greatest such address in American history, and by Lincoln himself as his own greatest speech, or one of them at the very least. Lincoln is believed to have had depression, smallpoxand malaria. Several claims have been made that Lincoln's health was declining before the assassination.

These are often based on photographs of Lincoln appearing to show weight loss and muscle wasting. Lincoln's redefinition of republican values has been stressed by historians such as John Patrick DigginsHarry V. He did this at a time when the Constitutionwhich "tolerated slavery", was the focus of most political discourse. His position on war was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states, and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract.

Furthermore, it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. As a Whig activist Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. Just as the Republican Party of the s absorbed certain elements of Jacksonianism, so Lincoln, whose Whiggery had always been more egalitarian than that of other Whigs, found himself absorbing some of them as well.

And some of the Jacksonian spirit resided inside the Lincoln White House. William C. Harris found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism. Randall emphasizes his tolerance and moderation "in his preference for orderly progress, his distrust of dangerous agitation, and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform.

In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he explored the nature of democracy. He denounced secession as anarchy, and he explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. He said, "A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.

The successful reunification of the states had consequences for how people viewed the country. The term "the United States" has historically been used sometimes in the plural "these United States" and other times in the singular. The Civil War was a significant force in the eventual dominance of the singular usage by the end of the 19th century.

In his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color. In surveys of U. Kennedyand Ronald Reagan were the top-ranked presidents in eight public opinion surveys, according to Gallup. Lincoln's assassination left him a national martyr. He was viewed by abolitionists as a champion of human liberty. Republicans linked Lincoln's name to their party.

Many, though not all, in the South considered Lincoln as a man of outstanding ability. Allen C. Guelzo states that Lincoln was a "classical liberal democrat—an enemy of artificial hierarchy, a friend to trade and business as ennobling and enabling, and an American counterpart to MillCobdenand Bright whose portrait Lincoln hung in his White House office ".

Sociologist Barry Schwartz argues that Lincoln's American reputation grew slowly from the late 19th century until the Progressive Era —swhen he emerged as one of America's most venerated heroes, even among white Southerners. Schwartz argues that in the s and s the memory of Abraham Lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with "a moral symbol inspiring and guiding American life.

Roosevelt, preparing America for war, used the words of the Civil War president to clarify the threat posed by Germany and Japan. Americans asked, "What would Lincoln do? In the Cold War years Lincoln's image shifted to a symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by Communist regimes. Bennett argued that Lincoln opposed social equality and proposed that freed slaves voluntarily move to another country.

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. By the s Lincoln had become a hero to political conservatives [ ] —apart from neo-Confederates such as Mel Bradfordwho denounced his treatment of the white South—for his intense nationalism, his support for business, his insistence on stopping the spread of slavery, his acting on Lockean and Burkean principles on behalf of both liberty and tradition, and his devotion to the principles of the Founding Fathers.

Barry Schwartz wrote in that Lincoln's image suffered "erosion, fading prestige, benign ridicule" in the late 20th century. In the 21st century President Barack Obama named Lincoln his favorite president and insisted on using the Lincoln Bible for his inaugural ceremonies. Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood, almost always in a flattering light.

Lincoln has also been admired by political figures outside the U. He appears on postage stamps across the world. He was the first of five presidents to do so. He has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names, [ ] including the capital of Nebraska. Contents move to sidebar hide. House of Representatives — Article Talk. Read View source View history.

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. President of the United States from to For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln disambiguation. Hannibal Hamlin — Andrew Johnson Mar—Apr. Whig before Republican after Mary Todd. Robert Edward Willie Tad. Thomas Lincoln Nancy Hanks.

Captain [ a ] Private [ a ]. This article is part of a series about. Early life and career Family Health Sexuality Patent. First term. Second term. Presidential elections. Speeches and works. Assassination and legacy. Main article: Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln. Mother's death. Education and move to Illinois. President Lincoln with his youngest son, Tadin Mary Todd LincolnLincoln's wife, c.

Early career and militia service. Illinois state legislature — See also: List of cases involving Abraham Lincoln. Republican politics — Main article: Abraham Lincoln in politics, — Emergence as Republican leader. Further information: Slave states and free states and Abraham Lincoln and slavery. Dred Scott v. Lincoln—Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech.

Further information: Lincoln—Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech. Main article: United States presidential election. The Rail Candidatea critical Currier and Ives illustration, which depictied Lincoln's platform in the presidential campaign as being held up by a slave and his party. In the presidential electionnorthern and western electoral votes shown in red put Lincoln into the White House.

Presidency — Main article: Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Secession and inauguration. Main article: Presidential transition of Abraham Lincoln. Further information: Secession winter and Baltimore Plot. Lincoln's first inaugural at the United States Capitol on March 4, with the Capitol dome above the rotunda still under construction. On the left, Lincoln meeting with Union Army officers on October 3, following the Battle of Antietamincluding left to right: Col.

Delos Sackett ; 4. George W. Morell ; 5. Alexander S. WebbChief of Staff, V Corps; 6. Jonathan Letterman ; Lincoln; Henry J. Hunt ; Fitz John Porter ; Andrew A. Humphreys ; George Armstrong Custer. On right, Lincoln meeting with McClellan the same day. Emancipation Proclamation. Main articles: Abraham Lincoln and slavery and Emancipation Proclamation.

Gettysburg Address Main article: Gettysburg Address. Main article: Reconstruction era. Whig theory of a presidency. Wikisource has original text related to this article: Thanksgiving Proclamation Supreme Court appointments. Main article: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Main article: State funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Religious and philosophical beliefs.

Further information: Religious views of Abraham Lincoln. Anti-monarchism Anti-corruption Civic virtue Civil society Consent of the governed Democracy Democratization Liberty as non-domination Mixed government Political representation Popular sovereignty Public participation Republic Res publica Rule of law Self-governance Separation of powers Social contract Social equality.

Theoretical works. Republic c. National variants.

Eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln

Related topics. Main article: Health of Abraham Lincoln. See also: Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln. Reunification of the states. Main article: Memorials to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's image carved into the stone of Mount Rushmore. Abraham Lincolna bronze statue by Adolph Weinmansits before a historic church in Hodgenville, Kentucky. The Lincoln memorial postage stamp of was issued by the U.

Post Office exactly one year after Lincoln's assassination. Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. The Lincoln centan American coin portraying Lincoln. Older sources use six. One possibility is that other members of the family, including Dennis Hanks, may not have matched Thomas's stability and steady income. Foner argues that Lincoln was in the middle, opposing slavery primarily because it violated the republicanism principles of the Founding Fathersespecially the equality of all men and democratic self-government as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Sandfordthe respondent's eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln was actually "Sanford". A clerk misspelled the name, and the court never corrected the error. Restoration Quarterly. Archived from the original on October 19, Retrieved May 27, I expect the latter to wear as well as—perhaps better than—any thing I have produced Leaders, From the Great and Honorable to the Dishonest and Incompetent acknowledges that polls have rated Lincoln among the top presidents sincethe authors find him to be among the two best presidents, along with Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Hurd and Houghton. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4. Retrieved August 7, National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 9, Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. Archived from the original on April 3, The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Archived from the original on October 9, Retrieved October 8, Retrieved February 17, SIU Press.

ISBN Retrieved June 27, The Hidden Lincoln. The Viking Press. The Vintage News. Retrieved March 4, In Miller, Marion Mills ed. Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln Volume 3. Wildside Press. Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. Alpha Editions. Abraham Lincoln's Classroom. Archived from the original on February 12, Retrieved February 12, Archived from the original on July 2, Retrieved July 2, Volume 1.

Archived from the original on December 15, Retrieved February 2, Retrieved July 1, National Archives. Archived from the original on September 20, Retrieved March 12, The following year, he moved to the newly named state capital of Springfield. For the next few years, he worked there as a lawyer and served clients ranging from individual residents of small towns to national railroad lines.

Lincoln won election to the U. House of Representatives in and began serving his term the following year. As a congressman, Lincoln was unpopular with many Illinois voters for his strong stance against the Mexican-American War. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield in Events conspired to push him back into national politics, however: Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Actwhich declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free.

On October 16,Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence. Rugged conditions. Heavy labor. Minimal schooling. And a mother gone too soon.

The 16th U. Lincoln served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad as its company attorney. Success in several court cases brought other business clients as well, including banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing firms. Lincoln also worked in some criminal trials. Lincoln referred to an almanac and proved that the night in question had been too dark for the witness to see anything clearly.

His client was acquitted. As a member of the Illinois state legislature, Lincoln supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to economic development. InCongress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Actwhich repealed the Missouri Compromiseallowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery.

Lincoln joined the Republican Party in Inthe Supreme Court issued its controversial Dred Scott decision, declaring Black people were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Lincoln decided to challenge sitting U. Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat. Senate campaign against Douglas, he participated in seven debates held in different cities across Illinois.

But the central issue was slavery. Newspapers intensely covered the debates, often times with partisan commentary. In the end, the state legislature elected Douglas, but the exposure vaulted Lincoln into national politics. With his newly enhanced political profile, inpolitical operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to support Lincoln for the presidency.

Chase of Ohio. In the November general election, Lincoln faced his friend and rival Stephen Douglas, this time besting him in a four-way race that included John C. Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the popular vote but carried of Electoral College votes, thus winning the U. He grew his trademark beard after his election. Following his election to the presidency inLincoln selected a strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including William Seward, Salmon P.

Chase, Edward Bates, and Edwin Stanton. In the early morning hours of April 12,the guns stationed to protect the harbor blazed toward the fort, signaling the start of the U. Crushing the rebellion would be difficult under any circumstances, but the Civil War, after decades of white-hot partisan politics, was especially onerous. From all directions, Lincoln faced disparagement and defiance.

He was often at odds with his generals, his cabinet, his party, and a majority of the American people. On January 1,Lincoln delivered his official Emancipation Proclamationreshaping the cause of the Civil War from saving the Union to abolishing slavery. And the Union victory at Antietam on September 22,while by no means conclusive, was hopeful.

It gave Lincoln the confidence to officially change the goals of the war. On that same day, he issued a preliminary proclamation that slaves in states rebelling against the Union would be free as of January 1. In the far reaches of western Texas, that day finally came on June 19, —more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.

Barret refused to pay the balance on his pledge to the railroad on the grounds that it had changed its originally planned route. Lincoln argued that as a matter of law, a corporation is not bound by its original charter when that charter can be amended in the public interest. Lincoln also argued that the newer route proposed by Alton and Sangamon was superior and less expensive, and accordingly, the corporation had a right to sue Barret for his delinquent payment.

Lincoln won this case and the Illinois Supreme Court decision was eventually cited by other U. The most important civil case for Lincoln was the landmark Hurd v. America's expansion west, which Lincoln strongly supported, was seen as an economic threat to the river trade, which ran north-to-south, primarily along the Mississippi River. It was the first railroad bridge to span the Mississippi River.

The steamboat owner sued for damages, claiming the bridge was a hazard to navigation, but Lincoln argued in court for the railroad and won, removing a costly impediment to western expansion by establishing the right of land routes to bridge waterways. Criminal law made up a small part of Lincoln and Herndon's casework. William "Duff" Armstrong had been charged with murder.

The case became famous for Lincoln's use of judicial notice —a rare tactic at that time—to show that an eyewitness had lied on the stand. After the witness testified to having seen the crime by moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac to show that the moon on that date was at such a low angle it could not have provided enough illumination to see anything clearly.

Based almost entirely on this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted. From Bergen's recollection, the prosecution had objected upon Lincoln's demonstration from the almanac and compared it to an almanac in their possession, only to find that Lincoln's was genuine. Lincoln was involved in more than 5, cases in Illinois alone during his year legal career.

Though many of these cases involved little more than filing a writ, others were more substantial and quite involved. Lincoln and his partners appeared before the Illinois State Supreme Court more than times. Abraham Lincoln is the only U. At one point the boat slid onto a dam and was set free only after heroic efforts. In later years, while traveling on the Great Lakes, Lincoln's ship ran afoul of a sandbar.

The resulting invention consists of a set of bellows attached to the hull of a ship just below the water line. On reaching a shallow place, the bellows are filled with air, and the vessel, thus buoyed, is expected to float clear. The invention was never marketed, probably because the extra weight would have increased the probability of running onto sandbars more frequently.

Lincoln whittled the model for his patent application with his own hands. In Lincoln called the introduction of patent laws one of the three most important developments "in the world's history. Historians do not agree on the significance or nature of their relationship, but, according to many she was his first and perhaps most passionate love.

At first, they were probably just close friends, but soon they had reached an understanding that they would be married as soon as Ann had completed her studies at the Female Academy in Jacksonville. Their plans were cut short in the summer of when what was probably typhoid fever hit New Salem. Ann died on August 25,and Lincoln went through a period of extreme melancholy that lasted for months.

In either orLincoln met Mary Owensthe sister of his friend Elizabeth Abell, when she was visiting from her home in Kentucky. Inin a conversation with Elizabeth, Lincoln agreed to court Mary if she ever returned to New Salem. On August 16,Lincoln wrote Mary a letter from Springfield suggesting an end to the relationship. She never replied and the courtship was over.

Edwards, son of Ninian Edwards. Mary was popular in the Springfield social scene but soon was attracted to Lincoln. Sometime inthe two became engaged. They initially set a January 1,wedding date, but mutually called it off. Lincoln proposed marriage to Sarah in but was rejected. Sarah later said that "his peculiar manner and his General deportment would not be likely to fascinate a young girl just entering the society world".

Lincoln still had conflicted feelings concerning Mary Todd. In August he visited Joshua Speedhis close friend and former roommate, who had moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Lincoln met Speed's fiancee while there, and after his return to Springfield. Speed and Lincoln corresponded over Speed's own doubts about marriage. Lincoln advised Speed and helped convince him to proceed with the marriage.

In turn, Speed urged Lincoln to do the same. Lincoln resumed his courtship of Mary, and on November 4,they were married at the Edwards's home. In a letter written a few days after the wedding, Lincoln wrote, "Nothing new here except my marrying, which to me, is matter of profound wonder. The couple had four sons. He was their only child to survive into adulthood.

Robert died on July 26,in Manchester, Vermont. The other Lincoln sons were born in Springfield, Illinois, and died either during childhood or their teen years. Lieutenant David H. Todd, Mary's half-brother, served as commandant of the Libby Prison camp during the war. In the winter of —, with the strong encouragement of his wife, Lincoln decided to pursue election to the United States House of Representatives from the newly created Seventh Congressional District.

His main rivals were his friends, Edward D. Baker and John J. On February 14 Lincoln told a local Whig political leader, "if you should hear any one say that Lincoln don't want to go to Congress, I wish you as a personal friend of mine, would tell him you have reason to believe he is mistaken. The truth is, I would like to go very much.

At the end of February the Whigs met in Springfield, where Lincoln wrote the party platform "opposing direct federal taxes and endorsing a protective tariff, a national bank, distribution to the states of proceeds from federal land sales, and the convention system of choosing candidates. Lincoln was selected as a delegate to the district convention which met on May 1 in Pekin.

Although Lincoln worked hard for Baker, Hardin was selected as the Whig candidate, winning by a single vote. Lincoln then initiated a resolution that endorsed Baker for the nomination in two years. The resolution passed, which seemed to set a precedent for a single term with rotation among the party's leaders, and suggested that Lincoln would be next in line after Baker.

In Lincoln campaigned enthusiastically for Henry Clay, the Whig nominee for president and a personal hero of Lincoln. On the campaign trail Lincoln and the other Illinois Whigs emphasized tariff issues, while touting the economic success of the Tariff of that had been passed in Congress under Whig leadership. Part of the campaign pitted Lincoln in a series of debates against Democrat John Calhoun, a candidate for Congress.

Campaigning in Illinois for most ofLincoln spoke out against the annexation of Texas a potential slave territorypromoted national and state banks, and opposed a wave of nativism that would become a major political issue a decade later. On the last issue Lincoln declared that "the guarantee of the rights of conscience, as found in our Constitution, is most sacred and inviolable, and one that belongs no less to the Catholic, than to the Protestant; and that all attempts to abridge or interfere with these rights, either of Catholic or Protestant, directly or indirectly, have our decided disapprobation, and shall ever have our most effective opposition.

Clay's opponent, James K. Polkcarried Illinois and also won the presidency. In Illinois and elsewhere Polk's support for the acquisition of Texas and Oregon seemed to carry the day. Lincoln and many other Whigs blamed the free soil Liberty Party for dividing the vote in New York, which allowed Polk to eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln that state and achieve the majority in the electoral college.

In responding to an antislavery Whig, who equated voting for Clay, a slaveholder, as "do[ing] evil", Lincoln asked, "If the fruit of electing Mr. Clay would have been to prevent the extension of slavery, could the act of electing him have been evil? Hardin did not run for reelection in ; the Whig nomination, as previously agreed, went to Baker, who won election to the seat.

Baker agreed not to run for reelection inbut Hardin considered a run for his old seat. Much of the Seventh District was included within the judicial circuit that Lincoln rode, so beginning in Septemberhe began soliciting the support of Whig leaders and editors as he moved through the circuit. Lincoln emphasized that Hardin should be bound by the understanding reached at Pekin in The debate over what had actually been agreed on in became public and bitter.

In the end Hardin withdrew and Lincoln secured the Whig nomination. The Democrats nominated Peter Cartwright, a circuit-riding Methodist preacher. Lincoln campaigned throughout the district, where he was already well known. Speaking of his actual campaign expenses, Lincoln noted, "I made the canvass on my own horse; my entertainment, being at the houses of friends, cost me nothing; and my only outlay was seventy-five cents for a barrel of cider which some farm-hands insisted I should treat them to.

Cartwright avoided joint appearances with Lincoln and initiated a "whispering campaign" that accused Lincoln of being an infidel and a religious skeptic. Lincoln responded by pointing out that the Illinois constitution had no religious qualifications for office. On July 31 he published a handbill that admitted he was not a member of a specific Christian church, but denied that he was an "open scoffer at Christianity" or had ever "denied the truth of the Scriptures.

Lincoln won the election with 56 percent of the vote, topping the numbers of Hardin 53 percent and Baker 52 percent in their elections. Due to the timing of the elections, the Thirtieth Congress did not convene until December House of Representatives inrepresenting the 7th congressional district of Illinois. As a freshman House member, he was not a particularly powerful or influential figure.

He spoke out against the Mexican—American Warwhich he attributed to President Polk's desire for "military glory—that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood. Lincoln later damaged his political reputation eberhardt gmelin biography of abraham lincoln a speech in which he declared, "God of Heaven has forgotten to defend the weak and innocent, and permitted the strong band of murderers and demons from hell to kill men, women, and children, and lay waste and pillage the land of the just.

While no one in Washington paid attention to Lincoln, the Democrats orchestrated angry outbursts from across his district, where the war was popular and many had volunteered. In Morgan County, Illinois, resolutions were adopted in fervent support of the war and in wrathful denunciation of the "treasonable assaults of guerrillas at home; party demagogues; slanderers of the President; defenders of the butchery at the Alamo ; traducers of the heroism at San Jacinto ".

In the presidential election, Lincoln supported war hero Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination and for president in the general election. In abandoning Clay, Lincoln argued that Taylor was the only Whig that was electable. Following Taylor's successful nomination, Lincoln urged Taylor to run a campaign emphasizing his personal traits, while leaving the controversial issues to be resolved by Congress.

While Congress was in session Lincoln spoke in favor of Taylor on the House floor, and when it adjourned in August, he remained in Washington to assist Whig Executive Committee of Congress in the campaign. Remembering the election ofLincoln addressed potential Free Soil voters by saying that the Whigs were equally opposed to slavery and the only issue was how they could most effectively vote against the expansion of slavery.

Lincoln argued that a vote for the Free Soil candidate, former President Martin Van Burenwould divide the antislavery vote and give the election to the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass. With Taylor's victory, the incoming administration, perhaps remembering Lincoln's criticism of Taylor during the Mexican—American Waroffered Lincoln only the governorship of remote Oregon Territory.

Accepting it would end his career in the fast-growing state of Illinois, so he declined and returned to Springfield, Illinoiswhere he turned most of his energies to his law practice. Contents move to sidebar hide. House of Representatives — Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

Wikidata item. Early life and career Family Health Sexuality Patent. First term. Second term. Presidential elections. Speeches and works. Assassination and legacy. Ancestry [ edit ]. Unproven rumors [ edit ]. On rumors, see also African-American heritage of United States presidents. Lincoln's appearance [ edit ]. Early years — [ edit ].

Early life in Kentucky — [ edit ]. Early religious beliefs [ edit ]. Main article: Abraham Lincoln and religion. Indiana years — [ edit ]. First trip to New Orleans [ edit ]. Education [ edit ]. Move to Illinois [ edit ]. Another trip to New Orleans [ edit ]. New Salem — [ edit ]. Lincoln settles in New Salem, Illinois [ edit ]. Politics and the law [ edit ].

Illinois Legislature — [ edit ]. Internal improvements [ edit ].