Abraham Lincoln
By Michael McTaggart
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on Feb 12, 1809, to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. Abraham had an older sister named Sarah and a younger brother named Thomas, who died when he was an infant. Due to a land dispute, the Lincolns were forced to move from Kentucky to Indiana in 1817. When Abraham was 9 years old his mother died at the age of 34. A few months after his Mom’s death, his Dad married Sarah Bush Johnston. Though both his parents were unable to read, Sarah encouraged Abraham to learn how to read.
In March, 1830, the family moved to Macon County, Illinois. When his father decided to move again, 22-year-old Abraham Lincoln went out on this own, making a living doing manual labor. He was known for his skill in using an axe and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing. Abraham eventually moved to the small community of New Salem, Illinois where over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. It was here that because Abraham was working with the public, he acquired great social skills and perfected his story-telling talent that made him so popular with the locals.
After the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln began his political career and was elected to the Illinois state legislature. He supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to create his early views on slavery, not so much as an ethical wrong, but as a cause that slowed economic development. It was around this time that he decided to become a lawyer, teaching himself the law by reading William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. After being admitted to the bar in 1837, he moved to Springfield, Illinois and began to practice in the John T. Stuart law firm.

In 1860, political operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to support Lincoln for the presidency. Lincoln's nomination was due in part to his moderate views on slavery, his support for improving the national infrastructure, and the protective tariff. In the general election, Lincoln faced his friend and rival, Stephan Douglas, this time beating him in a four-way race that included John C. Breckinridge of the Northern Democrats and John Bell of the Constitution Party. Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the popular vote, but carried 180 of 303