Abraham Lincoln - Background Study

[Music] heart who was Abraham Lincoln what do we know about him he was the 16th president of the United States he was born in a log cabin and finally lived in the White House we remember his nickname The Rail splitter to some of us Lincoln was the lawyer of Illinois to others he was the Civil War president or the man who wrote These famous words the gettsburg address that we study in school or the man whose memory is enshrined in this Temple yes to all of us Abraham Lincoln means many things each of us has his own ideas about what he was like let's go back back over the historical background of this man to see how our country influenced his life and how his life influenced our country when Abraham Lincoln was born in 189 America was a young nation of 17 United States West of these 17 states were the vast unsettled territories of Indiana Illinois and Missouri these territories were the West in Lincoln's time not the Great Plains of the Far West but the rolling fertile country of the Mississippi basin in countries such as this stood the forts that were the outposts of The Westward Movement and from such forts always pushing into the Western Country went the Pioneers men and women who moved into Western Kentucky and Indiana Illinois and Missouri and with them They Carried hopes for better opportunities and a better life high hopes that were part of what we call the American dream among such Pioneer families seeking a better life was the link family they settled in Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln was born the family lived in a simple cabin much like this one and the boy Lincoln lived the life of a Pioneer boy in a new country his Boyhood companions were the hills and forests and streams of Kentucky Lincoln himself once summed up his life very simply I was born in Kentucky raised in Indiana and lived in Illinois it was in 1816 that the Lincoln family moved from Kentucky and settled in the southwestern part of Indiana in Indiana the growing years for young Abe were years of hard work as did boys in most pioneer families young Abe helped his father split logs into rails for fences he plowed the Indiana soil that had never been farmed before he hauled fresh water from the spring for his mother and he kept the fireplace supplied with cut wood and in the evenings young Abe found time to read by the flickering Fire Light among his few books which he read over and over were the Bible whose simple beautiful language probably influenced his writings in later life isup's fables from which he may have gotten ideas for some of his humorous tales and weams life of Washington this book made a lasting impression on Lincoln he never forgot the great struggles of the men of the American Revolution the men who laid the foundation of freedom for a new nation what was that Nation like in Lincoln's time in 1831 the young Lincoln saw a portion of that Nation when he made a trip from Illinois to New Orleans he traveled by boat down the Mississippi River young Abe was impressed with the majesty and the tremendous size of the country through which he passed he was reminded too that in part of the growing Nation slavery existed the sight of negro slaves in the South left a lasting impression on him and probably influenced his stand against slavery in his later life his life was influenced too by other people and other places here in the Village of New Salem Illinois 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln returned to live in this town where Lincoln walked more than a century ago we can trace the years that changed him from a man of the people to a leader of the people the people of New Salem knew AB was a likable young man who could do Reading Writing and ciphering they knew him too as the clerk in the Lincoln Berry store here young Lincoln sold the plain useful articles that his neighbors needed sometimes when business was slow he studied just outside the store with his long legs propped up on a rail he read whenever he could and he began to concentrate on the study of law years later he gave this advice about studying always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed suceed is more important than any other one thing the resolution to succeed the will to work to strive for something better these were the ideals of the young Lincoln they were also the ideals of the Young Nation the belief that every individual had an opportunity to make the best of his life the people of New Salem gave Lincoln his first big opportunity in 1834 4 in that year the voters of New Salem and of sangan County elected Lincoln to the legislature of Illinois these people had decided that their kind understanding young friend Abe Lincoln would be the best man to represent them in the state capital from his Public Service in the capital of Illinois Lincoln moved on to public office in Washington where he served a term in the Congress of the United States when Lincoln was a congressman in 1848 The Westward Movement was increasing thousands of pioneers were going into the new territories Lincoln was familiar with parts of this young vigorous Nation he was beginning to see a new vision of America gradually Lincoln began to express this vision of America we the American people he said find ourselves in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the Earth and this fairest portion was a testing ground where the American people were building a new kind of government we live Lincoln said under a government which offers more civil and religious liberty than any of which history tells us Lincoln believed in the ideals of that government and he expressed those ideals during the years he lived in Springfield Illinois in this town Mr L developed from a lawyer of Illinois to a spokesman of America in this house in Springfield Lincoln lived for almost 25 years in the old state house he delivered some of his famous speeches past this corner in Springfield Mr Lincoln often rode on his horse and in this building he practiced law as a lawyer Lincoln rolled the circuit going from Courthouse to cour courthouse in different counties among the cour houses he attended was this one at Metamora Illinois where Lincoln handled cases during his 23 years as a lawyer what was Lincoln like during these years one of his friends describes him the first impression was that of a Kind sincere and genuinely good man in manner he was cordial Frank and friendly if he spoke the her would be impressed with his clear direct Good Sense by his wonderful wit and humor gradually an Ever widening circle of friends came to know Mr Lincoln of Illinois in 1858 Lincoln entered politics once more as a candidate for United States senator from Illinois his opponent was Steven A Douglas one of the topics the two candidates debated in 1858 was this who should decide on the question of slavery in the new states that were being formed in the western territories Senator Douglas believed that the people of the territories should decide for themselves on slavery in their regions Mr Lincoln argued that the federal government should decide about slavery in new territories Douglas won the election but when Lincoln returned to his home in Springfield his name was known in every state of the union perhaps in the quiet of his own home Lincoln thought about recent events as a well-known lawyer and citizen he continued to write letters and speeches about government about slavery about democracy these were more than personal beliefs they were ideas that represented America itself of America he said this country with its institutions belongs to the people who inhabit it of the people of America he said is there any better or equal hope in the world of slavery he said as I would not be a slave so I would not be a master of democracy he said no man is good enough to govern another Man without that other's consent in expressing these ideas Lincoln expressed the hope of the Republican party in America in 1860 that party asked him to accept the nomination for the presidency from that day forward Abraham Lincoln belonged not only to Illinois but to his country grave problems faced the nation when he was elected in 1860 only five weeks after Lincoln was in the white house he was called upon to defend the Constitution he had sworn to preserve the president received word that Confederate troops had fired upon Fort Sumpter in South Carolina Lincoln knew what this meant at Fort Sumter the burst of bombs opened the great struggle for Supremacy between individual states and the federal union soon after the attack on Fort Suter the war between the states flamed across cross the southern part of the country my Paramount object in this struggle Lincoln said is to save the union and again he said there is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the Privileges we have enjoyed for four long years all through the bloody struggle between fighting men of opposite beliefs and all through the long trial of suffering and death Lincoln held to his steadfast belief that the union could not must not be dissolved finally at the Battle of gettsburg the tide of War turned in favor of the Union on the field of gettsburg a few months later Lincoln delivered his gburg address once more the president reaffirmed his belief in democracy he spoke of the Patriots of 1776 The Men Who had brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal then the president spoke of the brave Soldiers of his time the men who had fought it gettsburg those who had given their lives that that Nation might live live and finally the president spoke of the work of the future he said it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great work remaining before us that this nation under God shall have a new birth of Freedom a new birth of Freedom came with the surrender of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War link was looking toward peace with malice toward none with charity for all let us strive on to finish the work we are in but Lincoln never finished his great work here in Ford's Theater in Washington while the president sat in his box watching a play an assassin fired at him Lincoln was carried into this house across from the theater and here on the morning of April 15th 1865 the president breathed his last now said the Secretary of War he belongs to the ages yet in a larger sense he belongs not to the ages but to us his dreams his hopes and his ideals have become a living Memorial to the nation he loved his words are for us to live by of America he said this country with its institutions belongs to the people who inhabit it of government we live under a government which offers more civil and religious liberty than any of which history tells us of democracy no man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent of the American people is there any better or equal hope in the world and he also said I beg of you as citizens of this great Republic not to let your minds be carried off from the great work we have before us when you return to your homes rise up to the height of a generation of men worthy of a free government and we will carry out the great work we have commenced [Music] every