Abraham Lincoln was born 216 years ago yesterday — February 12, 1809 — on a small farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. A couple of years ago, I decided to plow through in succession two acclaimed biographies of him by distinguished American historians -- With Malice Toward None: A Life Of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates and Pulitzer-prize winning Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. Very glad that I did. Some notes on things about Lincoln I’d either never known or forgotten:
1. Lincoln grew up virtually destitute on the Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois frontiers. His mother died when he was very young, and he was raised in a cabin that housed his father, sister, stepmother Sarah Lincoln, her three children, and a cousin. Sarah Lincoln adored Abe, and he came to consider and love her as if she were his biological mother. He always referred to her in letters as “Mother” and visited her every year until his death.
2. He hated physical labor on his family’s farms, and far preferred to read under the shade of trees instead (a characteristic he shared with Sam Houston). Nevertheless, and even though he was tall and thin, through his chores including chopping wood he developed immense physical strength.
3. When Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois to find his way as a young man, he developed a local reputation as a competent wrestler. One of Lincoln’s “friends” boasted in a bar that Abe was the best wrestler in the county. A member of a local gang called the “Clary Grove Boys” overheard that boast and made a bet that Lincoln couldn’t take down Jack Armstrong, the biggest member of the gang who had the reputation as the local badass. Lincoln didn’t back down and took on Armstrong below a river bluff near the town with a number of locals watching. Lincoln got the better of Armstrong in the match, and the entire Clary Grove gang then threatened to take him on. Lincoln stood up and told the gang he would take them all on and kick their asses. Armstrong was so taken aback by Lincoln's courage that he shook his hand and started a fast friendship. The Clary Grove Boys became some of Lincoln’s biggest supporters for the rest of his career. Lincoln later defended Armstrong’s son in a murder trial.
4. Lincoln was actually a political moderate for his time. When he married Mary Todd of Kentucky, he outkicked his coverage in terms of her grace and wealth. Like Ulysses S. Grant's wife, she was from a slaveholding family. In fact, Lincoln's Kentucky brothers-in-law ended up fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
5. Lincoln was conflicted about slavery. From an early age, he thought it was morally wrong, but like most folks then he had no good idea what to do about it. He knew the North was every bit as racist as the South and would not willingly accept a large influx of freed slaves. Until well into his presidency, the only solution he could think of for freedmen was to allow them to emigrate and form a colony in Central America or Africa. Up to the Civil War, he believed the U.S. Constitution prevented him from interfering with slavery where it already existed, but he always virulently opposed its extension into the new territories that were opening up in the West.
6. When the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for 75,000 Northern volunteers to suppress the rebellion. His proclaimed goal was preservation of the Union and not freeing any slaves until almost and year and a half into the war. Although several Southern states had already seceded, this call up of volunteers caused Virginia, which had previously voted against secession, to reverse course and join the Confederacy. This very likely led to Col. Robert E. Lee's decision to turn down command of the U.S. forces and join the rebellion to defend his native state Virginia. Of course Lincoln changed his mind on slavery during the war, decreeing its elimination in occupied Confederate territory under his war powers as commander-in-chief with his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and then nationwide with the 13th Amendment that was passed by Congress and ratified by the states in 1865.
7. Lincoln and wife Mary Todd experienced a great deal of personal tragedy in their marriage, losing two sons – Edward before the war and Willie during the war – that drove them both into bouts of inconsolable depression.
1. Lincoln grew up virtually destitute on the Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois frontiers. His mother died when he was very young, and he was raised in a cabin that housed his father, sister, stepmother Sarah Lincoln, her three children, and a cousin. Sarah Lincoln adored Abe, and he came to consider and love her as if she were his biological mother. He always referred to her in letters as “Mother” and visited her every year until his death.
2. He hated physical labor on his family’s farms, and far preferred to read under the shade of trees instead (a characteristic he shared with Sam Houston). Nevertheless, and even though he was tall and thin, through his chores including chopping wood he developed immense physical strength.
3. When Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois to find his way as a young man, he developed a local reputation as a competent wrestler. One of Lincoln’s “friends” boasted in a bar that Abe was the best wrestler in the county. A member of a local gang called the “Clary Grove Boys” overheard that boast and made a bet that Lincoln couldn’t take down Jack Armstrong, the biggest member of the gang who had the reputation as the local badass. Lincoln didn’t back down and took on Armstrong below a river bluff near the town with a number of locals watching. Lincoln got the better of Armstrong in the match, and the entire Clary Grove gang then threatened to take him on. Lincoln stood up and told the gang he would take them all on and kick their asses. Armstrong was so taken aback by Lincoln's courage that he shook his hand and started a fast friendship. The Clary Grove Boys became some of Lincoln’s biggest supporters for the rest of his career. Lincoln later defended Armstrong’s son in a murder trial.
4. Lincoln was actually a political moderate for his time. When he married Mary Todd of Kentucky, he outkicked his coverage in terms of her grace and wealth. Like Ulysses S. Grant's wife, she was from a slaveholding family. In fact, Lincoln's Kentucky brothers-in-law ended up fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
5. Lincoln was conflicted about slavery. From an early age, he thought it was morally wrong, but like most folks then he had no good idea what to do about it. He knew the North was every bit as racist as the South and would not willingly accept a large influx of freed slaves. Until well into his presidency, the only solution he could think of for freedmen was to allow them to emigrate and form a colony in Central America or Africa. Up to the Civil War, he believed the U.S. Constitution prevented him from interfering with slavery where it already existed, but he always virulently opposed its extension into the new territories that were opening up in the West.
6. When the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for 75,000 Northern volunteers to suppress the rebellion. His proclaimed goal was preservation of the Union and not freeing any slaves until almost and year and a half into the war. Although several Southern states had already seceded, this call up of volunteers caused Virginia, which had previously voted against secession, to reverse course and join the Confederacy. This very likely led to Col. Robert E. Lee's decision to turn down command of the U.S. forces and join the rebellion to defend his native state Virginia. Of course Lincoln changed his mind on slavery during the war, decreeing its elimination in occupied Confederate territory under his war powers as commander-in-chief with his Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and then nationwide with the 13th Amendment that was passed by Congress and ratified by the states in 1865.
7. Lincoln and wife Mary Todd experienced a great deal of personal tragedy in their marriage, losing two sons – Edward before the war and Willie during the war – that drove them both into bouts of inconsolable depression.
