Summary of mcphersons abraham lincoln

See emancipation proclamation text Emancipation Proclamation summary: It declared that "all persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free"—but it applied only to states designated as being in rebellion, not to the slave-holding border states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri or to areas of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control.

Summary of mcphersons abraham lincoln

Table of Contents Brief Overview Abraham Lincoln was born in rural Kentucky into parents of low social standing and little education.


Lincoln got his start in life after a pair of flatboat journeys to New Orleans. Soon afterward, he moved to New Salem, Illinois and set up as a store clerk there.

When the Black Hawk War broke out inhe became the captain of his volunteer company, serving for three months but seeing no active duty. Two years later, he ran again and was victorious, becoming a fixture of the Whig party in the General Assembly for the next eight years.

He was admitted to the bar inand moved to Springfield, the new state capital, later that same year. Lincoln married Mary Todd in The couple had four sons together, two of whom would die tragically while still children.

Then, inLincoln was elected to U. Congress, and moved to Washington to serve out his term, where he spoke out against the Mexican War and unsuccessfully attempted to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.

InLincoln returned to Springfield to resume his career as a lawyer and devote more time to his family. His political life seemed to be over. But when the slavery question heated up in the middle s, Lincoln took to the stump again, running unsuccessfully for Senate in and Despite these losses, Lincoln gained national exposure due to his flair for oration.

Such talent was especially evident during the series of debates he engaged in against Stephen Douglas during the campaign ofwhen Lincoln established himself as a leading opponent of popular sovereignty.

Summary of mcphersons abraham lincoln

A combination of luck, manipulation, and talent won Lincoln the Republican nomination for president in An especially fragmented race, featuring four major candidates, resulted in a victory for Lincoln despite the fact that he won less than 40 percent of the popular vote. An initial wave of secession led by South Carolina brought about the establishment of the Confederate States of America, a self-declared independent nation apart from the United States of America.

When Lincoln called for a sizeable militia to quash the rebellion, several more states, led by Virginia, also seceded. While Lincoln insisted that the Civil War was being fought to preserve the Union, the fate of slavery also played a major role.

Lincoln took an overpowering role as commander-in-chief in a time of war. Controversially, he suspended several rights as defined by the Constitution and expanded the powers of both the executive and the federal government considerably. In addition, Lincoln signed several significant pieces of legislation into law, including policies relating to currency, homesteaders, railroads, and taxes.Lincoln was the only president in American history whose administration was bounded by war.

James M. McPherson. Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief () p.

Lincoln in life

xiii; If Lincoln had been a failure, he would have lived a longer life. James M. McPherson. Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief () "Epilogue".

Start studying "Abraham Lincoln", Oxford University Press, by James McPherson notes. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Abraham Lincoln audiobook, by James M. McPherson Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Tried by War, James M.

Civil War History

McPherson is acclaimed as the greatest living Civil War historian. In this compelling biography, McPherson follows Abraham Lincoln from his early frontier days to . Summary. Read a brief overview of the subject's life, or longer summaries of major events and achievements.

Pulitzer and Lincoln Prize winner McPherson (Abraham Lincoln, , etc.) displays his massive knowledge of the Civil War, this time specifically concerning the naval Union Navy far outnumbered the Confederate, but it was still much too small to effectively blockade the coastline from Chesapeake Bay to Texas.

Feb 23,  · McPherson's "Abraham Lincoln" (part 1 of 2) I read James McPherson's Abraham Lincoln this weekend over lunch between the first and fifth bites of a sandwich. The narrative runs 65 pages and the pages are five inches wide by eight tall (with plenty of ledding and white space to bulk it up to 6/10th-of-an-inch thickness).

Abraham Lincoln - James M. McPherson - Oxford University Press