Abraham Lincoln Speech Outline

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865) By Robert F. Cuervo, Ph. D. THE SLAVERY QUESTION 1787- Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in Old Northwest Territory 1787- Constitutional Convention adopts three-fifths compromise and bans international slave trade after 1808. 1793- Cotton gin invented. Leads to great expansion of cotton plantation economy and increases demand for slaves. 1820- Missouri Compromise- new states below 36 degrees, 30 minutes North latitude may have slavery. New states above the line must be free. 1830's- beginning of abolitionist movements in North, such as that of William Lloyd Garrison and his newspaper the Liberator. 1845- Texas admitted to the Union as a slave state. It was the last one.…show more content…
McPherson, Abraham Lincoln D- David Herbert Donald, Lincoln S- Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Speeches Born February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. His parents came from Virginia. Kentucky was a slave state originally part of Virginia. Grows up in a rugged frontier environment—log cabins, rail splitting, wrestling Had little formal education—a few months in one-room schoolhouses. Mostly self-educated with encouragement from his step-mother. Family moves to Indiana in 1816 and Illinois in 1830. They wanted to obtain the secure land titles and absence of slavery provided by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. (M 2-3, D 23-24) As he studied, young Lincoln decided not to be a farmer. This caused a rift with his father Thomas Lincoln. Lincoln also resented having to give his father his earnings before age 21. In 1851, Lincoln didn’t attend Thomas’ funeral. (M 3-4, D 32-33) At age 21, Lincoln strikes out on his own in New Salem, Illinois. He tries various occupations, including storekeeper, surveyor (D 51), postmaster (D 50), paralegal (D 41), and flatboat captain on Mississippi River. He is the only president to hold a patent (D…show more content…
Union generals like George McClellan (D 317 ff.) were slow to strike, causing great frustration to Lincoln and the public. (M 36-37) When battles did occur, they were costly but inconclusive. Often opportunities were lost, as when Union generals failed to pursue the defeated Confederates after the Union victory at Gettysburg in 1863. (D 447) Lincoln also curtailed civil liberties during the war. He suspended the writ of habeas corpus and ordered military trials for dissidents. He ignored Chief Justice Taney’s decisions against his policies. (M 43; D 299, 303-304, 380, 382) Lincoln’s 1863 decision (D 362-364) to make slavery the main issue of the war also caused major groups in the North to turn against the war. There were Copperhead Democrats in Indiana, draft riots in New York City, and even Northerners serving in the Confederate Army. There were also fears of losing Border States that stayed in the Union but still had slavery (Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky,

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