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Lincoln-Hamlin Ticket for
President & Vice President. Lincoln's Cooper-Union speech
brought him to
national prominence Click
here to read about it
Abraham Lincoln's political
career mostly occurred in Illinois. He would win a seat in the
Illinois State General Assembly as Representative, a seat as U.S.
Representative, and ran for U.S. Senate, losing to Stephen Douglas.
He started out as a Whig party member, and would later help to start
the new Republican party. Lincoln was self-educated, and at
New Salem worked on improving his grammar, including speaking and
writing. Abraham
Lincoln wrote and provided three different autobiographies. Read
them Here.
Answer the questions. You can follow a great
timeline of Lincoln's political career
Here.
. . . THE
POLITICS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
DURING THE CIVIL WAR
After futile pleas
to the border states to free slaves voluntarily, Lincoln in the
summer of 1862 decided that emancipation was a military and
political necessity. The Emancipation Proclamation transformed the
war from a conflict to save the Union to a war to abolish slavery.
It authorized the enlistment of African Americans; 220,000 served
during the war, helping to ensure the destruction of slavery. This
was the big political event during the Civil War.
Political Consequences of War Time .
. .
| 1. During the war Congress adopted
policies that altered American society. The
Homestead Act offered free public land to western settlers.
Huge land grants supported construction of a transcontinental
railroad. The government raised the tariff, imposed new taxes,
enacted the first income tax, and established a system of
federally-chartered banks. |
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| 2. The Union lost about 360,000 troops
during the Civil War and the Confederacy about 260,000. This is
almost as many soldiers as have died in all other American
wars. Click
Here
for details of deaths. The tremendous number of casualties
became a powerful political influence. |
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| 3. Lincoln Fires McClellan, 1862
Click
Here |
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| 3. The
Emancipation Proclamation, 1862 |
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| 4.
The 13th Amendment , ratified in December 1865, ended
slavery in the United States. |
President Lincoln would be
elected to a second term against a popular George McClellan (former
general under Lincoln). Read what Mary Todd
Lincoln thought of this General in her 4-page letter to her husband.
Click
Here for
"Lincoln Fires McClellan"
Your Job:
Study how Abraham Lincoln could maintain the
leadership to "cause" all these great political events to occur.
The Civil War was not popular with all people, and when conscription
(the draft) was initiated, many citizens up-roared and protested.
Lincoln and the Union Army remained on-task and would of course win
the war. Just looking at the figures of killed soldiers on both
sides, this war had more American deaths than any war before or
after.
Take each of the three
important political accomplishments listed above and complete the
information table:
[Use the links above to read about
each and answer the questions]
| Political Action: |
When did this occur, and what was did
it accomplish? |
How does this Action effect us in the
21st Century? |
Homestead Act
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. |
. |
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| Lincoln Fires McClellan
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Emancipation Proclamation
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
. |
. |
. |
13th Amendment
.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
.
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. |
. |
Visit the Commander &
Chief Page
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CHALLENGE QUESTIONS
Check
James
Baldwin's article for answers to these questions
1. Abe's first political party affiliation was with what party?
2. Who was Lincoln's main political opponent--from Illinois?
3. How many times did Abe run for office and lose?
4. What offices did Lincoln win?
5. Lincoln became a leader of a brand new political party. What
was the
name of the party?
6. How did Abraham Lincoln get support of the whole nation when he ran
for
President? (there was no TV or Internet--only newspapers in the
19th century)
7. Lincoln's political party became the party that was most
instrumental
in ending an American institution. What was the institution?
8. At the Cooper
Union Hall, Lincoln gave a great speech, that got him national
attention. What else did this speech cause to happen to him?
Click
Here.
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