Questions tagged [abraham-lincoln]
For questions about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States.
23 questions
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Where does Lincoln say the South wants us to believe as they believe?
I can no longer find this article or speech, written by Lincoln in which he says argues that the North had done everything in its power to accommodate the South, but the South was still not appeased ...
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Why did Lincoln's election prompt the Southern states to secede?
I've just finished Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. The presentation of the book suggested that the Southern states seceded as a response to Lincoln's election.
I am confused by that timing: ...
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What is the context of Lincoln saying: "if I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it"
Lincoln said (emphasis mine):
Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1862.
Hon. Horace Greeley: Dear Sir.
I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the
New-York ...
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Under what legal theory was Mary Surratt hanged as an assassin of President Lincoln in 1865?
According to every source that I found so far, the only reason Mary Surratt was convicted of taking part in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was that the murder conspiracy was plotted in her ...
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Did Abraham Lincoln have a duel with cannons? [closed]
When you where challenged to a duel or challenged someone to a duel, it was the person that was challenged that chose the weapon. Once someone challenged Lincoln To a duel and he said " how about ...
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When did Lincoln claim that "Vicksburg is the key" to winning the civil war?
In researching the Civil War, I've seen a quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, come up several times. The most complete version of the quote I have found comes from this website which gives the quote ...
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How did Lincoln know to stick with Grant before the completion of the Vicksburg campaign?
I'm reading Shelby Foote's book on the Civil War and something struck me: Lincoln was sticking by Grant, whom he'd never met, well before his big victories at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. How did ...
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Did freed slaves keep a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the wall?
I read somewhere that post-civil war, many freed slaves kept a portrait/drawing of Abraham Lincoln in their house, and that this "tradition" went on for some time. Is this true, and can anyone share a ...
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What is the original provenance of Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people" and why is Wikipedia so confused?
I was curious about the provenance of Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address proclamation regarding government "of the people, by the people, for the people", so I looked it up on ...
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Why did Abraham Lincoln decline the governorship of Oregon Territory in 1849?
In 1849, when Abe Lincoln was still a young lawyer, according to my book on Washington State history, he was offered the governorship of Oregon Territory—which, it would seem, was a lucrative position ...
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Abraham Lincoln Quote Background
I recently ran across a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" I was wondering what the context of this quote is. Specifically was he speaking ...
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What did Abraham Lincoln say that may have led to General MacArthur's quote? [closed]
I encountered this quote that I would have liked to use,
"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can
be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to
...
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Was Alexander Coffroth for or against slavery? And in what instances?
I am watching the 2012 film "Lincoln" and there was a character Alexander Coffroth. Doing some research on him, it is quite vague whether or not he supported or didn't support slavery. If he ...
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What prompted Lincoln to change his mind about ending slavery?
Prior to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln asserted that he would not end slavery in the South and that he was not in favor of racial equality. Yet, by 1863 he signed the “Emancipation Proclamation” ...
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Did Lincoln ever publicly blame James Buchanan?
Background
Several modern presidents have publicly blamed their predecessor for at least one issue that occurred during their presidency: Trump, Obama, and Reagan are some examples. I am unsure of how ...
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Could the 1864 US presidential election have been postponed?
This article on HistoryNet makes the following observation about the 1864 election:
The 1864 race for the White House was the United States’ first presidential election during wartime. Proposals to ...
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Why did Lincoln's Cooper Union Address have such an impact?
At the Cooper Union, Lincoln became more than a regional curiosity. He became a national leader. -Harold Holzer
This is pretty much the historical consensus. I've read the speech, and I get that ...
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In the Gettysburg Address, what is the exact meaning of the phrase 'under God'?
Recently, while studying Chinese translations of this classic speech,
EDIT:
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and
that government of the people, by the people, for the ...
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Did Lincoln provoke the US civil war? [duplicate]
Did Lincoln provoke the US civil war?
Did there exist a position that Lincoln took that ignited the war, or was it just the consequence of long unsolved US problems.
If the reason is the second, ...
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Did Abraham Lincoln send a letter to Jefferson Davis about allowing slavery if he rejoined the Union?
I don't know where I heard this originally (somewhere in grade school I think) but I have a very vivid memory of hearing this story:
Apparently at the beginning of the Civil War, Lincoln sent a letter ...
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How did Lincoln legitimize the constitutionality of his Emancipation Proclamation? [closed]
How did he convince the south to legitimize the emancipation proclamation?
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Did Abraham Lincoln kill the man who murdered his mother? [closed]
I'm watching a dramatized (re-enacted) biography of Abraham Lincoln and it shows him as having shot a man in the eye, shortly after the death of Lincoln's father. The man apparently had something to ...
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What does "free and independent states" mean in the Declaration of Independence? [duplicate]
The Declaration of Independence declared the United Colonies to be "free and independent states," with the following context:
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in
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