Abraham Lincoln Presidential Outline

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Presidential Outline I. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) II. Kentucky/Illinois III. Educational and Occupational Background: A. Education: He received almost no formal education, he taught himself to read and write and read many books. B. Occupations: 1. Clerk and surveyor (1831) 2. Enlisted in military to fight in the Black Hawk War (1832) 3. Elected to Illinois State Legislature (1834) 4. Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1847-1848) 5. Lawyer (1836) IV. Presidential Term: (1861-1865) V. Issues of the Election: Slavery was a big issue of the election of 1860. Stephen Douglas ran on the idea that slavery needed to be abolished while Lincoln was a free soiler. He believed that slavery should be left alone where it was already established but to not allow any further expansion. VI. Opponents- A. 1860: Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, John Bell B. 1864: George B. McClellan VII. Vice President: A. 1860-1864: Hannibal Hamlin B. 1864-1865: Andrew Johnson VIII. Political Party: Republican IX. Major Domestic Happenings A. Civil War begins (1860)-fought for 4 years, between the United States and the Confederacy. Although abolition was to be one of the major results of the Civil War, the war was fought for nationalistic reasons, not to destroy slavery. The Confederacy found a great commander while many of the northern generals in the early stages of the war proved indecisive. Gradually Lincoln’s stock rose and the Confederacy faced greater problems than the North. The Confederacy had to create an entire administration under pressure and it contained no broad authorization for laws designed to advance general welfare. B. Fort Sumter (1861)- the Confederates had seized most federal property in the south except for two strongholds Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. Lincoln
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