Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

by Clayton Lamb

If you were to ask people to name a United States President of America, surely Abraham Lincoln would be one of the first names to come to mind. This is because Abraham Lincoln was one of the most influential and impactful presidents of our nation. His work and legacy span across great speeches, policies, and writing styles. Abraham Lincoln has a number of great works to cover but I will focus on three of his most powerful pieces of work that perfectly describe why he is a cornerstone of American values. How did Abraham Lincoln embody what it meant to be an American? Let us take a closer look at three pieces of his work, including “A House Divided,” “The Gettysburg Address,” and “The Emancipation Proclamation.”

Before we look at Abraham Lincoln’s work, we must explore what experiences molded him into becoming one of the most influential presidents of our country. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His mother died when he was only nine years old. His father re-married, and Abraham thought highly of her, having quoted her to be an “angel mother.” Later in the 1830s, Abraham would pursue a career in law that would find him passing the Illinois state bar exam in 1836. He would begin one of four state legislator terms in 1834. This is important as his beginnings in law and politics would set him up for his election to the U.S. Congress in 1846 where he served as a member of the Whig party. He would eventually join the Republican party soon after its conception in 1854, where he would win the Presidential election as the Republican candidate in November of 1860. Abraham Lincoln’s stellar career in politics and law earned the trust of the American people to navigate a controversial time during slavery and the Southern states’ eventual succession from the Union. Abraham Lincoln called it in one of his speeches, “A House Divided,” which we will explore next.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” One of the most recognizable quotes in his speech, “A House Divided” perfectly sums up what Lincoln foresaw of the nation and the path America headed down. He gave this speech on June 16, 1858, at the close of the Republican State Convention. The context of this speech is so important as just 3 years after this speech was given the civil war started. During this time, numerous states had excluded slavery by state constitutions while many had not, and Lincoln found that a problem such as this would be detrimental to the Union. He warns of the dangers of being either “permanently half slave and half free.” This work was one of his most powerful pieces as he was able to predict that the Union would not be able to function with this divide. Several claim that he wrote this speech as a way of “prophecy.”

One of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous and recognizable pieces of literature is his “Gettysburg Address” on November 19, 1863. The Gettysburg Address is a powerful piece of work as it reminds us of the tragedy of the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg was a 3-day long battle often considered to be the turning point in the Civil War as it was the war that slowed the southern state’s ambitions to become its own nation. It was the Civil War’s deadliest battle, with an estimated 50,000 casualties on both sides. Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg was a dedication to the lives lost and casualties suffered at this battle. His speech lays out the egalitarian values and principles of the Declaration of Independence that America was a “new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He goes on to explain that the Civil War was a great test on the nation to see if its values and principles could endure. Unfortunately, sometimes the test is passed at the cost of many lives and blood. Lincoln went on in his address to say that this memorial shall serve not only as a remembrance of those who sacrificed for the Union, but to serve as a dedication to the unfinished work that is ahead for America. He ends his address by asking the American people to have increased devotion to the task so that the deaths of those at Gettysburg were not done in vain. Abraham Lincoln said, “…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.”

The cornerstone of Abraham Lincoln’s work, and as many agree to be his most influential work, is the Emancipation Proclamation. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln enacted the Emancipation Proclamation that declared “all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free.” While racism in America would exist for many years after this and still have much work to be done, this proclamation would become one of the most powerful documents in America. How did Abraham Lincoln change the course of freedom and liberty in America with his Emancipation Proclamation? It would set up the 13th amendment on December 6, 1865, which would abolish slavery in the United States. This is so important because it meant the abolishment of slavery became part of the United States Constitution and expounded on the values of our nation that “all men are created equal.” Again, while there is significant work to do still regarding racism in America, it was the first step toward making all men and women free regardless of their race. Returning America to its identity of being a free country. I find the Emancipation Proclamation to be one of the most influential pieces of legislation in American history.

Abraham Lincoln accomplished a multitude of things during his presidency. He’s considered one of the most influential leaders of our nation. Unfortunately, on that tragic day of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth. What other important measures could Abraham Lincoln have tried to accomplish? We will never get to know what other great and marvelous works Lincoln could have accomplished, but we do get the pleasure of getting to review what great works he was able to write. Abraham Lincoln shall always be remembered for his courage to do the right thing and the power to address the American people as a leader of our great nation.

Source: Text included with the permission of the author.

Image: Abraham Lincoln. By Alexander Gardner. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain