Abraham Lincoln: A Legacy Defined

Daniel Hup

4 May 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Abraham Lincoln not only was a legacy, but a hero in the eyes of African Americans in the United States during the Civil War. He was the sixteenth president and served two terms during his presidency. He is most well-known for his speeches, Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address.

He was President during one of the most controversial times our country has ever had and managed to hold our country together and abolish slavery through it all. He gained many followers and roused many people through his great speeches. He served a very important part in our history and changed the way that things were done in America. There may even be more things different if he hadn’t been tragically assassinated.

From the start of his life in Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12, 1908, all the way up until the time of his assassination on April 15, 1865, Lincoln was known for being straightforward and honest. He didn’t come from a distinguished family and he spent as much of his time as he could attaining as much knowledge as he could.   He had a desire to learn and be an influential leader from the time he was very young. He was in the Black Hawk War and served in the Illinois legislature and spent a few years in circuit courts before he ran against Stephen Douglas for Senator. He lost this race though, but gained a good reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President.

As President, Lincoln fought to keep the United States together. He felt that it was illegal for the southern states to secede from the Union so he went to war with them to keep them in the Union. In the process he managed to free all slaves and make slavery illegal everywhere in the United States. It was a long hard struggle and he was ultimately killed because he succeeded in doing this.

Maybe the greatest asset that Lincoln possessed was ability to speak. He made many great speeches that seemed to make everyone rally around him, and made many people who before may not have believed in him or wanted him to be President, believe and trust in him to lead our country. Even after the Civil War ended he tried to make things very peaceful and was trying to be kind to the southern states in trying to rebuild the whole country as more of a united country, but was assassinated before he could see his plans follow through by John Wilkes Booth, a southerner who thought that he was helping he south.

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most important Presidents in the history of the United States because of what he did to keep the country together in difficult times and abolish slavery.  He was the perfect man for the job because of his strong will and his ability to get people to follow him. There aren’t many other Presidents that would’ve been able to handle everything during this time in history as well as Lincoln did.  Throughout the following annotated bibliographies, his life, presidency, and legacy as president will be discussed.

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

Abraham Lincoln Online. 2004. http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln.html

            This website provides many of Lincoln’s speeches and what he stood for as a politician. It gives his views on education, lawyers, military tributes, preserving liberty, and perseverance. It provides key places in Abraham Lincoln’s life and what happened there. It has many links for anything that you could be looking for about Abraham Lincoln. This site contained a lot of information and had many different links that were actually quite interesting. (Internet)

Biography of Abraham Lincoln. 2004. www.whitehouse.gov (17 April 2004).

            This website explores the life of past and present presidents, focusing directly on Abraham Lincoln as a key president in United States history. The biography begins with his inaugural address and his warning to the southerners. This site also explored some history on Lincoln himself and how he came to be who he was. He was born on February 12, 1809 and was assassinated on April 15, 1865. He didn’t come from a wealthy family but made “extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while farming.” This site was very helpful with technical information of Lincoln, but wasn’t too in depth on his help with slavery. (Internet).

Encyclopedia Britannica. Chicago: 2002. (pg. 369).

            Abraham Lincoln was defined as the Great Emancipator in this reference work. It spoke of his family, wife Mary Todd, and four children, Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. The text was a summary of Lincoln’s life and reign as president. He was noted for his shrewdness and practical common sense, but was also said to be fair and honest. After being assassinated, he was not only a martyr, but an American hero to those of the South. The encyclopedia is always a great reference, but not much more than that. (NWC).

Boritt, Gabor S. Lincoln, the War President. New York: Oxford University Press. 1992

            Lincoln, the War President offers a new look on the way Lincoln handled the Civil War in its entirety. It’s a step up from McPherson’s investigation and gives a much more detailed look into what happened during this time of trial and how Lincoln approached each and every trial he encountered. The bulk of this book was spent looking at the way Lincoln went beyond the limits of the Constitution in defense of the nation and freedom. There were many historians who contributed to the writing of this great look into Lincoln’s help during the Civil War, each of which shared different topics and the book was overall a great guide into why Lincoln is a legacy. (NWC).

Copland, Aaron. Lincoln Portrait: The Inspirational Words of Abraham Lincoln.

            Gene Griessman. “A Classic Tale” tape recording. Soundelux 1999.

This musical interpretation of the president’s speeches is very enticing and motivating. The highs and lows that Copland produces create a distinct historical influence on the writing of the music. Copland researched for this production and the music is defined by Lincoln’s life. This musical work is a great motivating tool in the field of history. This resource inspired learning and a deeper insight into the emotional aspects of Lincoln’s presidency. (Internet).

Kunhardt, Edith and Malcah Zeldis. Honest Abe. New York: Greenwillow Books. 1993

            This artwork is a great depiction of history in a minimal amount of pages. Each and every aspect of Lincoln’s life was thoroughly depicted in each piece of art. Overall, it is a simple biography of the president who led the United States through a bloody civil war. This picture novel describes Abe’s life in sections, beginning with his birth, the middle sharing his family and Civil War tactics, and ending with his assassination. Although this book may seem simple and short, it’s very detailed and could be used as a great historical resource.

McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press. 1991

            This book investigates the series of essays on aspects of Lincoln and the war that have rarely been discussed in depth. McPherson spends the majority of his time detailing Lincolns incredible rhetorical skills and how Lincoln was able to share wonderful insight throughout the Civil War. McPherson shares his ideas as a leading historian into the key ideas and aspects of Lincoln’s presidency during the Civil War. The emphasis was spent on Lincoln’s role as Commander-in-Chief of the Union forces, showing how Lincoln forged a national military strategy for victory. This book was a great resource in learning of Lincoln’s tactics during the Civil War and how he became one of the most influential presidents in United States history. (NWC).

Neely, Jr. Mark E. The Last best hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1993.

            Neely, Jr. provides for the general read the first compact biography of Abraham Lincoln based on new findings as an historian. Neely sought out to find the most incredible stories and essays on Abraham Lincoln. Throughout this text, one can see the growth of this president’s advanced ideas about military strategy, despite their price in blood. He also states that Lincoln was the “father of this country.” Although this text had a lot of great facts and very important concepts, a lot of Neely’s ideas were brought into account. This was a good secondary source. (NWC).

Paludan, Phillip S. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Kansas: The University Press of            Kansas. 1994.

            This primary source explores the new ideas of Abraham Lincoln and his key role in the history of the United States. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Lincoln, the presidency, and the Civil War. The text told of the Civil War in its entirety and how it effected the United States, even until today. Lincoln was a dedicated man to the African Americans in the South and he was not going down without a fight. Paludan shares with the readers times of tribulation in Lincoln’s life, as well as details into the exact accounts of the war. This book was a great wrap up of primary sources and was very easily interpreted. (NWC).

Peterson, Merrill D. Lincoln in American Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.            1994

            Peterson describes thoroughly in this book of Lincoln’s help to abolish slavery and everything to the last hour of his life. The main body of the text is composed of the complex responses of blacks to the memory of Lincoln, as they moved from exultation at the end of slavery to the harsh reality of free life amid deep poverty and segregation. Not only does Peterson identify archetypes of Lincoln, but also challenges the read to look into our own identities and see how Lincoln impacted our lives today. This book was very helpful in seeing the different attitudes Lincoln possessed and the different archetypes he was known to be: savior of the Union, the great emancipator, man of the people, first American, and self-made man. (NWC).

Winters, Kay. Abe Lincoln: The boy who loved books. New York: Simon & Schuster.             2003

            Although this is a children’s book, it gave a great depiction of Abe’s life and his eagerness to learn. If read to the appropriate audience, this book could make a huge impact on the life of children in America today. It showed of his bravery, kindness, perseverance, and how he moved from the “wilderness to the White House.” Historically, this book compared equally to that of the other longer non-fiction sources, but had the same content in an easier to understand format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            This bibliography was actually quite hard for me because I have never done anything like it before. It was all a learning process for me because I had to go by the book and figure out how to do everything out of there. I had some difficulties finding sources at first because I didn’t know what sources were the best to use for this assignment. Once I found my sources, I had to cite them. Finding the correct way to do this was probably the most difficult thing for me. I had never had any previous experience with this so what should’ve been short and easy actually took quite a while and was a little hard. Then after that learning what the correct way to annotate things is was another difficult thing. None of it was easy for me at all actually.

            I learned a lot about how to research things and finding sources that are useful in writing papers. I thought that I would be able to just go on the internet and do a search for things and go off of that, but this bibliography made me actually go to the library and sit down and do the work. I had no idea that that many books on Abraham Lincoln were even available.

            I also learned a lot about Abraham Lincoln that I otherwise might not ever have found out. I always knew him as “Honest Abe” and from the stories that I have heard growing up in school. But I didn’t even know that he served two terms as President or that his speeches were so powerful. I learned how he rose through the ranks and paid his dues before he was elected President.

            I also learned that Lincoln had four boys, but only one lived past the age of nineteen. I never knew that he was a family man, and by looking through many different sources, he loved his sons very much. I also learned a little about Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd.

            I also learned that he tried very hard to make peace between the north and south. He wanted to make the country strong and united. It wasn’t that he wanted to punish the south or that he didn’t like them or thought that they were bad. He believed in equality and that slavery was immoral and wrong, so he stood for what he believed and abolished it. He didn’t go with what was going to win him popularity or get him votes. He was honest the whole time and spoke what he truly believed was the truth.

            I picked Abraham Lincoln because I thought that he’d be an easy topic with a lot of sources, but I’m glad that I picked him because I actually learned how strong of a man he really was. He is a true role model even for people today because of everything he accomplished and how he handled himself and others. I was honestly amazed to learn about Lincoln and his life. It makes me wonder how much more he would’ve accomplished in his life if not for his early death.

            Overall this was a big learning experience for me. I learned how to do an annotated bibliography, how to research topics, how to find articles on topics, how to cite sources, and also a lot about Abraham Lincoln.