Ladies and Gentleman, Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln has been mentioned a few times, but this was where Lincoln really broke out. Lincoln was a man of humble beginnings. Born in Kentucky in a log cabin, he and his family moved to Illinois. This is why Illinois is the Land of Lincoln.



Growing up, Lincoln saw slavery and disliked it, he later became a legislator in the Illinois General Assembly. He spent some time in Vandalia, IL (we have historic sites to prove it). He married Mary Todd who was also crazy, but probably not John Brown Crazy.

He was then a Congressman then he went into political retirement.

His retirement was short lived, the Kansas Nebraska situation really bothered him. Stephen Douglas bothered him. He would face Douglas for a race for a Senate seat.




Lincoln and Douglas would take part in a series of debates that drew massive crowds.

They debated in 7 towns throughout Illinois, they stood on tree stumps!



Even though Lincoln did not like slavery, he was still a man of his times. In no way am I character assassinating Lincoln, but I think its important to not paint a pretty picture with no bad in it.

In a debate in Charleston, Illinois (Visit the Lincoln Douglas Debate Museum in Charleston, IL!!!), Lincoln said "I will say then, that I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in anyway social and political equality of the white and black races".

This will be interesting to remember, remember it, seriously.

When all the debates were over, Lincoln did not win the Senate seat. Some people would see this as a major loss, but it did make Lincoln pretty famous. It also made southerners not like Douglas all that much.

If you think Lincoln did a good job of getting his name out there then, just wait till he grows a beard.



A bearded Lincoln faced off against Douglas, John C. Breckenridge, and John Bell for president in the election of 1860.

This election was very sectional, Lincoln won the north, while Bell and Breckenridge split the south. Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States with less than 40% of the popular vote.




The North Celebrated




The South was concerned....



One week after Lincoln was elected, trouble started to brew...

The Dred Scott Case

Things got fired up again because of a situation involving a man named Dred Scott.

Schott was a slave in Missouri, but often went with his master to Illinois where slavery was illegal.



He sued for his freedom. He figured by living in Illinois where slavery was illegal, he had become free.

Chief Justice Roger Taney came to the decision of this matter. Remember the 5th Amendment? You don't? Shame on you.

Well as a refresher, the 5th Amendment among other things, won't let the government take away life, liberty, or property without due process. Taney argued that this amendment protected the slave owners property rights.

Taney also said since Scott was black, he couldn't sue, he was not a citizen. He also said that the Missouri Compromise violated these same property rights and it is unconstitutional. This made things a lot lot worse.

Bleeding Kansas

During this time, tides were turning against the Democrats and the Whigs. A new party was rising, the Republicans, or sometimes called the "free soil" party. It was called this because they opposed the spread of slavery. So the soil would be free....get it?! Huh, huh, get it?!

Another young politician from Illinois joined this party. Who was this man? This man was Abraham Lincoln.



You might want to remember Lincoln for later.

As you could probably imagine, a subject as controversial as slavery would result in some high tensions. Things got pretty violent and Kansas became known as "Bleeding Kansas".

Both pro slavery and anti slavery people were rushing to the new territory to have an affect on popular sovereignty.




The first election for the question of slavery took place in November of 1854. 1700 armed Missourians crossed into Kansas and threatened violence if they couldn't vote.



Because fear is a good motivator, a pro slavery delegate was elected.

Other fraud with the voting occurred so both sides decided to set up their own governments in Kansas.

This obviously will not work.

Texas Independence

The Texans captured a fort called the Alamo in San Antonio. This made Santa Anna mad, so he took an army to San Antonio.

The Texans took shelter in the Alamo when they saw Santa Anna's incoming army.

They surrounded the Alamo and Santa Anna demanded they surrender. A man by the name of William Travis responded by firing a cannon at them.



The Mexicans responded with 12 days and nights of cannon fire. Eventually the Mexicans stormed the Alamo and killed all 200 of the defenders inside.

The Alamo is now a tourist attraction in San Antonio...and Pee Wee Herman traveled to this location in his movie, Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Anyway....

While the Alamo was happening, a group of Texans were writing up a Texas Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They were really over being part of Mexico.

After a lot of fighting and retreating, the Texans and Mexicans met at San Jacinto. The Texans were victorious while shouting...


Not only did the Texans win at San Jacinto, they also captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty that ended the war and would also recognize Texas's independence. Also, for good measure, a regiment from Illinois took Santa Ana's fake leg.




Even though the Texans won, Mexico would not honor the treaty because Santa Anna was a POW (prisoner of war) at the time.

If you are wondering, Santa Anna never got his leg back, it is still in Illinois and can be viewed at The Illinois State Military Museum in Springfield Illinois!