Abraham Lincoln - June 16, 1858

The average American today would declare Abraham Lincoln as the greatest U.S. president. However, if you would go back almost 150 years ago, Lincoln’s popularity among the citizens of the United States would be very low in the polls. When he was elected President in 1860, seven slave states left the Union to form the Confederate States of America. When the hostilities began between the North and South, four additional left the Union. A bloody civil took the lives of more than 600,000 Americans, but Lincoln understood that for the United States to be a perfect union, sacrifices had to be made.

No President in American history ever faced a greater crisis and no President ever accomplished as much. Lincoln understood that for the U.S. to be a great nation, it needed to be united and free from the sins of slavery. A moral nation that boasts life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all cannot be masters of human beings. With an iron resolve, patience and careful timing, Lincoln gave back an America that was indeed free and whole.

Born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky just short of 200 years ago, Lincoln only had one year of formal education. He taught himself how to read and eventually became a lawyer. Equipped with a quit wit and powerful speaking abilities, masses would come to hear the words of this remarkable man. He entered into the political world and soon became a favorite among Republicans and nominated him as a candidate for president. Through a series of events, a once illiterate individual became the most powerful person in the U.S.

What started as a war to preserve the Union and became a battle to end slavery. In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, officially ending slavery. Lincoln urged black males to join the Union forces as soldiers and sailors. Nearly two hundred thousand African Americans fought for the Union cause.

The humane character of Lincoln was best demonstrated by his policy of reconciliation with the South, as expressed in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. He spoke of “malice toward none" and "charity for all.” A few weeks later death from an assassin’s bullet cut short a great man’s life. Master of combining practical politics with moral principles, in only four years as president he had established why he is one of the few Americans who truly ‘belong to the ages’.

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This chapter was taken out of the Immigration Bible by Zila Katz and Esq.Dotan Cohen, Adv. Get your copy today

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Tom Wright
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