Abraham Lincoln literature

Literature about Abe Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is perhaps one of the most popular characters in American History. The impact of his legacy is debatable; however he is given credit for contributions in the fight against slavery in the United States. Unfortunately, his assassination by John Wilkes Booth in April of 1965 prevented Lincoln from seeing the abolishment of slavery that would follow with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed just eight months after Lincoln’s death. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 in the backwoods of Kentucky (later moving to Illinois) to poor and illiterate pioneers. His mother died when the young Lincoln was only 9 years old. Throughout his childhood he received no more than a year of formal schooling, but he was able to teach himself law while working many different job including a rail-splitter, storekeeper, postmaster and a surveyor. On 6 November 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16^th president of the United States, representing the first president from the Republican Party.

 

Lincoln is perhaps most remembered for the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves in the Confederacy.  The problem with him freeing the slaves only in the Confederacy is that he had no jurisdiction there at the time, so those states did not recognize his authority as President. It would be like Stephen Harper making a law today that only affected the Americans in the United States – he has no authority there. While the Proclamation did not have an immediate impact on the freedom of slaves, it was the beginning of the road to the constitutional ban against slavery and the eventual achievement of equal rights for African-Americans. Lincoln was president during the American Civil War (1861-1865) but he believed that freeing the slaves would be a goal that would justify the cost of war. The Civil War had great costs for the United States, with 618,000 deaths - about 60% from the North & 40% from the South. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all other American wars combined.

Russell Freedman published an award-winning book called Lincoln: a photobiography about the life of Abraham Lincoln. It is a description of the boyhood, marriage, and young professional life of Abraham Lincoln includes his presidential years and also reflects on the scholarly thoughts about his legacy.

Lincoln’s assassination on 14 April 1865 has become a popular topic for fiction novelists because of the conspiracy theories that were associated with John W. Booth. There are many novels available at the City of Kawartha Lakes Public Libraries based on Lincoln’s murder. Timothy O’Brien’s recent novel The Lincoln conspiracy: a novel (2012) has received a lot of attention as it examines the scope of the American conspiracy through two diaries. It asks the question: What if the plot to assassinate President Lincoln was more complex and ominous than originally thought?

On 16 November 2012 a blockbuster movie about Lincoln was released starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln and Sally Field as his wife. It takes place during the Civil War, and chronicles Lincoln’s struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and his own war to emancipate the slaves.

Historians debate Lincoln’s actual impact on the freedom of slaves during his presidency since he only; however it is generally accepted that he started the process that would eventually free the slaves. He brought a lot of attention to the abolishment of slavery and will be forever associated with the fight for civil rights.