1834, 25-year-old Lincoln was elected to the Illinois Senate, which was the beginning of his political career. 1836 became a lawyer through the examination. Lincoln hated slavery when he was young, because Lincoln had transported goods to the south many times when he was a sailor and witnessed the cruelty of slave owners and the tragic situation of black slaves. After he became a member of parliament, he often delivered speeches attacking black slavery, which was very influential among the masses. The American Republican Party was founded in 1854. Lincoln joined the Republican Party because it advocated the abolition of slavery. 1856 was nominated as the vice presidential candidate at the first national congress of the Republican Party.
1858, when Lincoln was running for the Senate in Illinois, he gave a speech entitled "Broken House". He compared the coexistence of two different systems in North and South to "a cracked house". He said, "A house with cracks is untenable. I believe that this government cannot remain semi-slave and semi-free forever. " Lincoln's speech was vivid and easy to understand, which expressed the demands of the northern bourgeoisie and reflected the wishes of the people of the whole country, thus winning him a high reputation.
1860, Lincoln was elected as the sixteenth president of the United States. Lincoln's election seriously threatened the interests of southern planters, who opposed Lincoln, who advocated the abolition of slavery, as president. In order to regain national leadership and maintain black slavery, they launched a rebellion before Lincoln took office. 1860 12, South Carolina first declared its independence from the Federation, and then the slave States such as Mississippi and Florida also seceded from the Federation. 186 1 In February, they announced the establishment of the American Confederacy, elected Jefferson Davis as president, and formulated the Constitution, declaring that black slavery was the foundation of the Confederacy.
1861April 12, the Southern Alliance declared war and quickly captured sumter and other places controlled by federal government forces. Civil war broke out. Lincoln himself did not want to abolish slavery through war. He believes that slavery can be restricted by peaceful means first, and then abolished gradually. The key is to maintain the unity of the Federation. Under the control of this idea, the northern government did not prepare for the war seriously at all, while the southern government had been planning for a long time, and their troops were well-equipped and well-trained So the northern government was defeated by the southern government, and even the capital, Washington, was almost captured.
The defeat of the North on the battlefield aroused strong dissatisfaction among the broad masses of the people, which made Lincoln realize that to win this war, we must mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers, abolish slavery and liberate black slaves. 1862 in may, Lincoln signed the land protection law, stipulating that every American citizen can get a piece of land by paying a registration fee of 10. This fundamentally inspired the enthusiasm of farmers to fight bravely. 1in September, 862, Lincoln personally drafted the draft of The Emancipation Proclamation. 1 863 65438+1October1Officially promulgated the The Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that slavery in rebel states will be abolished from now on, and freed slaves can be called up to join the federal army. The freedom of slaves fundamentally disintegrated the fighting capacity of the rebels and gave the north a powerful source of soldiers.
The promulgation of these two decrees is a turning point in the civil war, and the battlefield situation is more and more favorable to the north. 1 863 July13, the two sides fought the largest battle since the civil war in Gettysburg, north of Washington. The two sides fought fiercely for three days and nights, and the northern army hit the southern army hard. From then on, the northern army began to enter the counterattack.
The Civil War is called the second American revolution after the War of Independence, which cleared the way for the development of American capitalism. Lincoln became a symbol of black liberation. Because of this, the slave owners hated him very much. 1865 On the evening of April 14, Lincoln was assassinated by a mob under the command of a southern slave owner while watching a play at Ford Theatre in Washington. Lincoln's unfortunate death caused great shock at home and abroad, and the American people deeply mourned him. More than 7 million people stood on both sides of the road to mourn the funeral procession, and 6.5438+0.5 million people paid tribute to Lincoln's body.