With every five-dollar bill, Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, who ruled the country from 1861 until his death in 1865, looks at us. Any American student knows the biography of Lincoln, and his Gettysburg speech is carefully studied and serves as a topic for essays.
Who was Abraham Lincoln? His biography begins in 1809. He was born in a poor farm hut, which is now protected as a national treasure. For the boy’s father, his desire for knowledge was amazing, of the books in the family there were only the Holy Bible, the alphabet and the catechism. Abraham was the first of the Lincolns to master the letter. But his father, who could neither read nor write, nevertheless was able to convey to his son two important character traits: he taught him to respect people and love to work.
Abraham Lincoln could not get a school education; he was prevented by extreme tightness in material means and frequent travels in search of a better share. In 1816, the family of the future president left Kentucky's native state and moved to Indiana. Mother died, father married a second time.
In Indiana, Abraham Lincoln worked as a ferryman, drove $ 6 a month for people across the Ohio River. Then there was Illinois and a trip to the Mississippi, instilled a hatred of slavery.
Lincoln's political career began when he volunteered for a militia fighting against the Indians harassing New Salem residents. He was elected to the state legislature. It was difficult there, there were fights. Having differentiated once again the conflicting parties, Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech, the idea of which was an appeal to parliamentary culture. The speech was very successful, but put an end to his career in this respected meeting. Interrupting somehow and borrowing money, he always paid back his debts, for which he was nicknamed "honest Abe."
In 1835, he again went to the Illinois Legislature, became a lawyer, and gained authority with his eloquence. Opposing the slave trade and the war with Mexico, Abraham Lincoln made many political opponents.
The year 1856 was for Lincoln the year of his nomination as US Vice President. It did not succeed, but the popularity of politics grew. Having delivered a speech in Springfield (1858), in which there was the expression “a house that is split inside cannot stand”, he actually spoke out against the split of the country into a slave-owning South and an industrial North. In 1860, a new US President was elected - Abraham Lincoln. His nationality caused some controversy, but it should be noted that, despite his name, he was not a Jew.
In March next year, speaking near the unfinished Capitol building in Washington, Lincoln, already elected president, again called on the southerners to reconcile, but his speech, although brilliant, was not received. On April 12, Fort Sumter underwent shelling, and a civil war broke out - the most bloody conflict in American history. Four years of hostilities led to the defeat of the Confederate army and the victory of the northerners. Throughout the war, Lincoln led the country, showing versatile talent and outstanding strong-willed qualities. In 1864, he was elected president a second time.
Only five days passed from the day of the declaration of victory in the civil war, and Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by Booth, a supporter of the Confederation, who shouted that he had avenged South. Soon he himself was killed by guards.
Abraham Lincoln was a supporter of the equal rights of all people and a great humanist. He remains the most revered president in the United States today.