Abraham Lincoln
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Date: 14-04-1865
Abraham "Abe" Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and played a key part in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Born in poverty, he was self-educated and before becoming president he was a lawyer and statesman. During his run for presidency, he was described as unpolished but trustworthy, earning the nickname "Honest Abe". Lincoln strived for abolishing slavery, one of the main reasons that ignited the American Civil War. The American Civil war started in April 1861 shortly after Lincoln's inauguration. For many, the all-time low of the war was "The Battle of Gettysburg" in 1863 where thousands of Americans lost their lives. Months later Lincoln gave a famous speech at the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg. It lasted only three minutes but would go down in history as one of the best-known speeches in American history. |
The Gettysburg Address (19-11-1863)
by Abraham Lincoln "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." |
Abraham Lincoln (center, facing camera), without his top hat, at Gettysburg
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On April 14th 1865, Abraham Lincoln is at Ford's Theatre (Washington D.C.) with his wife, watching a play. At 10:15 P.M a man enters their theaterbox. His name is John Wilkes Booth (well-known actor and Confederate spy), sneaks up behind Lincoln, pulls out his gun and shoots Lincoln in the back of the head.
Abraham Lincoln is mortally wounded and dies, after a short coma, hours later on April 15th. John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed two weeks later at a farm in Virginia. Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. President to be assassinated and he is viewed as one of the most influential and important presidents in American History. |
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
(picture in Public Domain)
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Did you know?
With his 195 centimeters (or 6 feet 5 inches), Abraham Lincoln was exceptionally tall for a man in the 1800s!
With his 195 centimeters (or 6 feet 5 inches), Abraham Lincoln was exceptionally tall for a man in the 1800s!
Location:
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America
