Created by pshoemaker on Feb 24, 2009
Last updated: 03/08/13 at 08:44 AM
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His parents were Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. The family then moved to Indiana and eight-year-old Abe helped his father build a new log cabin. A year later his mother died and the house was very empty. His father remarried and in addition to his sister Sarah, who was 3 years older, there were now 3 more children in the family. John, Matilda and Elizabeth. Abraham Lincoln had less than a year of schooling. Books were scarce, as was paper. He worked his arithmetic problems on a wooden plank and ‘cleaned’ the board with a knife so he could use it again. Lincoln liked to read but the opportunity to get and read books were few and far apart. His family owned a bible and he would copy parts of the book in order to memorize it. Sometimes Lincoln would walk for miles to borrow a book. One of his favorite books was "The Life of George Washington". At a young age Lincoln decided that he wanted to become a lawyer. Every new job he got he worked on a new skill to help him become a lawyer. When he was a postmaster, he tried to learn how to get along with people well. When he was a surveyor; a person who measured land, he tried to always be accurate in his measurements. When he was a shopkeeper he tried to be honest and fair. Once he shortchanged a woman by 6 cents, and he followed her home so he could give the money back to her. He still wished to become a lawyer. Some nights he would go without sleep just to study for law school. At night he would borrow books from his neighbors by night and return them by morning. In 1836 he passed the test and was then able to become his dream, a lawyer. During this time he was elected into the Illinois legislator by the Whig Party. He became a skilled debater and public speaker. He had many debates with John Calhoun some of these debates lasted for over four hours. He also debated Stephen Douglass many times on the issue of slavery. And soon enough the two were able to debate once more at the 1860 presidential election. The election of 1860 was a major election. The people involved Abe Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Bell, and John Breckinridge. Both sides of the election had problems deciding whom they were going to place in the election. Eventually the sides where chosen. Lincoln was one of the Republican delegates. Lincoln then won the election that which would then send America into a civil war since it angered people in the south who thought he would abolish slavery. On April 14th, 1865 Lincoln awakened in a pleasant mood. He, his wife Mary-Todd Lincoln and General Grant and his wife were going to see Our American Cousin, at Ford's Theater. When the group got to their box seat the door was closed but not locked. Their guard, who was drunk, left his post and a man opened the door and shot Lincoln. He died a very slow and painful death and the next day president Lincoln was declared dead. The legacy Lincoln left will stay with the hearts of Americans forever. He was a strong and brave leader, a kind man, and he was one of the main figures in the fight for civil rights. No matter how many years have passed, or all the future years to come, the life and legacy of Lincoln will live on forever. ~Kyla
In 1837, Martin van Buren became president of the United States. He was inaugurated on March 4; at the time when America was prosperous, and he devoted his inaugural address to discussing how the American experiment was an example to the rest of the world. Martin Van Buren had an impressive political career prior to becoming President. His political career began in 1821, when he became a senator of New York. In 1829, he became governor of New York, and later that year he was promoted to Secretary of State by President Andrew Jackson. Van Buren was a favorite of President Jackson, and from 1833- 1837 he served as Vice President for Jackson. When Andrew Jackson’s term in office ended, van Buren ran for office. Like his predecessor, van Buren was a democrat. He was also the first President to come from the state of New York. Van Buren served as President from 1837- 1841. He ran for President three times but only won the first time.
Nullification act of 1832 In 1828 a new tariff act was put into place that taxed products coming in from other nations. This tariff was helping the Northern industrial economy while hurting the Southern agricultural economy. South Carolina had enough of this so they decided to make the Ordinance of Nullification stating the Tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 where unconstitutional and no longer applied to their state. In response to that current President Andrew Jackson make an official announcement to South Carolina arguing they had no right to legalize laws. While the President in forced these laws, Vice President John Calhoun agreed with South Carolina, so he resigned from his VP position to help the Nullification movement. Soon later in 1833 Henry Clay created The Compromise Tariff of 1833 which most agreed too.
In America at the time slavery was happening a lot in the South. January 1, 1831 the first issue of The Liberator was published. The popularity of the Liberator grew slowly and to increase the number of people who read it William Garrison would send other newspaper companies his newspaper and they would quote him/use his work in their newspapers. (Along with his name of course.) Now when he would send his newspaper to the South they where offended, especially because Garrison was a strong believer in the abolishment of slavery. 35 years, and 1,820 issues later, William Garrison published his last issue right after the end of the Civil War and the making of the Thirteenth Amendment!
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