Lincoln

The other day I was watching a biography on Abraham Lincoln ans learned some interesting stuff that I did not learn in History Class. As well as some things about his assassination too. I love American History and so this was very interesting to me to find out this information

His childhood:

He was born in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. He had two other siblings a sister Sarah who died during childbirth and a brother Thomas who died in infancy. In  1817 the Lincolns were forced to move from Kentucky to Indiana because of a land dispute,  They "squatted" on public land to scrape out living in a crude shelter. His father hunted game and farmed a small plot but he was eventually able to buy the land.

When he was nine years old his mother died at the age of thirty four from a disease commonly known as milk disease. He then grew more and more alienated from his father and resented the hard work his father placed on him quietly. A few months later after his mother died his father remarried a Kentucky widow with three children of her own and Lincoln formed a strong bond with her because she was a strong and affectionate woman and even encouraged him to read even though both she and his father were most likely illiterate.  He received his formal education while growing into manhood. An estimated eighteen months-a few days or weeks a month. Since reading material was scarce in the Indiana wilderness he would walk for miles to borrow a book and would read anything including the family bible.

Law Career:

In March of 1830 the family migrated again to Macon County , Illinois. He was 22 at the time so he ventured out on his own and did manual labor. He was sis foot  four inches tall he was rawboned and lanky but muscular and physically strong. In 1834 when the Black Hawk War broke out the volunteers asked Lincoln to be their captain and it was after the war ended that he started his political career and was elected in the state legislature as a member of the Whig Party in 1834.   He supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to 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. 

 It was soon after this that he purportedly met and became romantically involved with Anne Rutledge. Before they had a chance to be engaged, a wave of typhoid fever came over New Salem and Anne died at age 22. Her death was said to have left Lincoln severely depressed. However, several historians disagree on the extent of Lincoln’s relationship with Rutledge and his level of sorrow at her death may be more the makings of legend.  

Political Career:

he only served in the U.S. House of Representatives which was from 1847 to 1849 so his political career seemed short lived. He was the lone Whig of the state and showing party royalty but found few political allies.  he used his time in office to speak out about the Mexican-American War and even supported Zachary Taylor for president. His speaking out against the war made him unpopular back at home and he decided to opt out of running for a second term but to go back to study law instead. A year after the death of Anne Ruthledge he started dating Mary Todd the two saw each other for a few months before marriage was discussed and the two became engaged but that engagement was short lived because in 1841 Lincoln called it off and most likely from his initiative but the two later met again at a social function and later married in 1842. They had four children but only one survived to adulthood. 

Presidency:

In 1856 he joined the republican party and in 1857 he was elected president. As you all know he was the one who abolished slavery. However n 1857, the Supreme Court issued its controversial decision Scott v. Sanford, declaring African Americans were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Though Abraham Lincoln felt African Americans were not equal to whites, he believed the America’s founders intended that all men were created with certain inalienable rights. Lincoln decided to challenge sitting U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat.   Now from what I gather and understand the ladies didn't like Mary Lincoln and the couple really didn't love each other and in fact she threw a cup of coffee at him and stormed out of the room. The couple was not strict with the children and pretty much let the children run amok. Mary often kept house with either a relative or hired servant girl. 

After the death of one of the couples sons Mary swore she seen his spirit and so they would hold saonces , but that got short lived because it looked bad. 


His Assassination

Now everyone knows there are similarities between his assassination and Kennedy's. However even though the history books says that John Wilkes Booth killed him but the whole assassination was a murder plot and there were several who were arrested for the conspiracy to comment murder. Four were murdered and one of the four was a woman. After they were executed they were not spoken of again and were hidden in time forever, There were several others who were arrested and imprisoned and one that even escaped to another country but was later extradited back here. Now the history books says that he  escaped his pursuers and subsequently died many years later under a pseudonym. However he was shot in the leg and ran to a local farm in rural Virginia and 12 days later he was tracked down and while his companion gave himself up Booth refused and was shot after the barn in which he was hiding was set ablaze. 

Now I don't know about you but I since that the assassination and the whole thing is almost a conspiracy and covered up for ever and that there are more things to this than anyone knows. 

After Lincoln died his widow suffered from depression from the loss of three of her children and the loss of her husband, Her only surviving son locked her in a insane asylum for awhile. His last surviving relative died in 1985.  His body was lying in state in the East Room and then the Capital Rotunda from April 19th to April 21st.  For his final journey with his son Willie, both caskets were transported in the executive coach "United States" and for three weeks the Lincoln Special decorated in black buntingbore Lincoln's remains on a slow circuitous waypoint journey from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois stopping at many cities across the North for large-scale memorials attended by hundreds of thousands, as well as many people who gathered in informal trackside tributes with bands, bonfires and hymn singing^[ or silent reverence with hat in hand as the railway procession slowly passed by. 

In 1900 the Lincoln Tomb located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, was in need of repair and underwent a reconstruction. Construction of the present tomb took 15 months, and during that time Mr. Lincoln's coffin was in a temporary grave a few feet away. The photograph to the left shows the temporary grave after being opened, and the pine box holding Mr. Lincoln's coffin is clearly visible. In May 1901 Robert Lincoln visited the tomb and decided things needed to be changed again. In 1876  had failed in an attempt to steal Mr. Lincoln's corpse and hold it for ransom. Robert didn't want a repeat of that possibility. This time the coffin would be buried in a huge cage ten feet deep and then encased in concrete. In the photograph below, Mr. Lincoln's coffin is in the center. The outer pine box that had been broken away lies to the right of the coffin. Many of the men removed their hats out of respect.

Both the cage and the coffin would be hardened forever in a solid block of rock. Robert's idea for this had come from the burial procedure employed for George M. Pullman (inventor of the Pullman sleeping car).Finally, on September 26, 1901, all was ready. Because of the permanency of this burial, a discussion arose among those present as to whether the coffin should be opened. Some people argued that the remains should be identified due to rumors around the country that Mr. Lincoln was not the body in the box. Other people thought opening the casket would be a violation of privacy. In the end, it was decided to open the coffin. Two plumbers, Leon P. Hopkins and his nephew, Charles L. Willey, chiseled an oblong piece out of the top of the lead-lined coffin. The piece these two men cut out was just over Mr. Lincoln's head and shoulders. When the casket was opened, a harsh, choking smell arose. 23 people slowly walked forward and peered down. Mr. Lincoln's features were totally recognizable. His face had a melancholy expression, but his black chin whiskers hadn't changed at all. The wart on his cheek and the coarse black hair were obvious characteristics of Mr. Lincoln's. The biggest change was that the eyebrows had vanished. The president was wearing the same suit he wore at his second inauguration, but it was covered with yellow mold. Additionally there were some bits of red fabric (possibly the remnants of an American flag buried with Mr. Lincoln). All 23 people were unanimous in their agreement that the remains were indeed those of Abraham Lincoln.  ' I find this information interesting and it makes me even wonder more if perhaps the whole thing is a conspiracy and bits and pieces hidden away as well. I now know and realize that the  assassinations between Lincoln and Kennedy were too much similar that to me that it isn't just a coincident that there are so many similarities but in fact a huge  conspiracy  between the two. I don;t know about you but something doesn't smell right.