ENGLISH ESSAY CLASS 9

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. Lincoln served as president during the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865. He is perceived as a "Great Emancipator" because he worked to bring an end to slavery in the USA. Lincoln is also remembered for his Gettysburg Address that he gave on November 1, 1863 at Gettysburg.

Early life
Abraham was born to humble parents, Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a single-room log cabin at Hardin County in Kentucky. He had a difficult childhood. Abraham was still young when his father, Thomas Abraham, lost all his fortune. So they shifted to Perry County in Indiana. Abraham was only nine years old when his mother passed away. His elder sister, Sarah, took care of him until his father married again.

Abraham Lincoln never had a proper formal education. However most of his learnings were self-educated and from the books that he used to borrow to read. Later, his family shifted base to Illinois where he would set out on his own. During his youth days, Lincoln had worked in different types of jobs, such as surveyor, shopkeeper, postmaster, etc. For a living he had to also break firewood with an axe. Later he joined politics and at the age of 25 managed to secure a seat in the Illinois Legislature.

Life in politics
Abraham Lincoln served for many terms on the Illinois State Legislature. It was during this period he started studying law and worked as a lawyer. In 1845 he contested for the U.S. Congress position and won the election. For one term he served as a congressman. He was instituted as the American president on March, 1861 after winning the 1860 election.

Within a month after Lincoln taking his office, The Civil War broke out at Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war lasted for about four years and almost 600,000 people died in the process. He was severely criticized for this war. However, Lincoln was determined to preserve the "Union" of the States and managed to hold the country together. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 01, 1863 that ordered the freeing of slaves in the Confederate States.

While watching a play at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C., Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. He succumbed to his injury on April 15, 1865. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated.