A legendary person who was more than just a president
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809– April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in abolishing slavery, bolstering the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.
Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier, primarily in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. Congressman from Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in
Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, he was angered by a law that opened the territories to slavery and he re-entered politics. He soon became a leader of the new Republican Party. Lincoln ran for president in 1860 and gained victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and the Southern states began seceding from the nation. Shortly after, the Civil War began.
His Gettysburg Address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South’s trade.
In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states “in rebellion” to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to “recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons” and to receive them “into the armed service of the United States.”
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the war’s end at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.
Lincoln is remembered as a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery.
Glossary:
statesman = statista
to lead (to lead, led, led) = capeggiare, dirigere
The Union = l’unione degli stati americani
to bolster = fortificare
log cabin = una casa o capanna di legno
to be raised = essere cresciuto
frontier = la frontiera (quegli stati che erano alla frontiera con il resto del territorio nord-americano che non faceva parte dell’unione.)
to secede = fare secessione
an address = un discorso indirizzato ad un gruppo specifico di persone
blockade = un blocco (in questo caso navale); un embargo commerciale
to issue = emettere, pubblicare
the armed service = il servizio militare
to seek to (to seek, sought, sought) = cercare di fare od ottenere qualcosa
war-torn = devastato dalla guerra
to attend = partecipare
fatally = mortalmente
sympathizer = simpatizzante
Abraham Lincoln a short bio
