Who was Abraham Lincoln?

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You’ll recognize his face from the penny and the five-dollar bill. Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States of America. He was elected on November 6, 1860, and to this day he is one of the best-remembered presidents.

He was often called “Honest Abe” because he was known for an honesty and kindness. He was also a very good speaker and delivered the famous speeches, the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. 

When he was elected, the country was divided: North and South, though it was still one single country. The southern states wanted other politicians besides Lincoln to run the country, and he was elected without the support of those states. Since they didn’t feel they were being represented, they did something that has never happened any other time in the history of the United States: they left the country. The South became it’s own country, called the Confederate States of America. This new country had its own flag, its own government, and its own capital.

There were many issues that divided the North and South, but one of the biggest ones was slavery. Slavery is the word that is used to talk about one person forcing another person to work for him or her. Slaves are treated like prisoners without any rights. In many southern states, slaves were used as workers on farms. It’s hard to imagine one person thinking they have the right to control somebody else, but it did happen. It was a very important part of the South’s economy and business.

Lincoln led the North to make the country whole again and also to end slavery in the United States. This conflict was the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865. Lincoln and the North won. In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, officially ending slavery. Lincoln had another nickname: “the Great Emancipator.” Emancipation means, “to free from the power of someone else.” He emancipated the slaves.

On April 14, 1865, only five days after the end of the Civil war, Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, while attending a play. Booth was a very strong supporter of the Southern States’ causes.  

Finding the Confederation

After Lincoln was elected but before he stepped into office as President, seven southern states left the United States and became their own country.

Those states were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. Can you find those states on a map of the United States?

After the Civil War started, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia also became Confederate states. Can you find them?

Imagine how different the United States would look if those states were missing. Imagine what North America would look like if there were a whole other country in the middle of it! That’s what today’s geography could look like if the South had won the war.