The State Journal-Register is the only local daily newspaper for Springfield, Illinois , and its surrounding area.
144-703: The newspaper was founded in 1831 as the Sangamo Journal by William Bailhache and Edward Baker, and describes itself as "the oldest newspaper in Illinois". As such, it and its editor, Edward L. Baker, supported the political career of the Springfield-based Abraham Lincoln in the years before the American Civil War ; in fact, it was in the Journal ' s office that Lincoln and his friends waited for
288-639: A log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier , mainly in Indiana . He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator , and U.S. representative from Illinois . In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois . In 1854, angered by the Kansas–Nebraska Act , which opened the territories to slavery, he re-entered politics. He soon became
432-475: A raconteur , but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct. Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in
576-464: A siege , to the point that the South Carolina authorities placed picket ships to observe the movements of the troops and threatened to attack when forty rifles were transferred to one of the harbor forts from the U.S. arsenal in the city. In contrast to Moultrie, Fort Sumter dominated the entrance to Charleston Harbor and, though unfinished, was designed to be one of the strongest fortresses in
720-459: A 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore . The floating battery next to Fort Moultrie had two 42-pounders and two 32-pounders on a raft protected by iron shielding. Fort Johnson on James Island had one 24-pounder and four 10-inch mortars. At Cummings Point on Morris Island , the Confederates had emplaced seven 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, a British 12-pound Blakely rifle , and three 8-inch Columbiads,
864-435: A breach of faith. Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens believed that President Buchanan had made implicit promises to him to keep Sumter unoccupied and suffered political embarrassment as a result of his trust in those promises. Buchanan, a former U.S. Secretary of State and diplomat, had used carefully crafted ambiguous language to Pickens, promising that he would not "immediately" occupy it. From Major Anderson's standpoint, he
1008-591: A call at 6 a.m. and then had breakfast. At 7 a.m., Capt. Abner Doubleday fired a shot at the Ironclad Battery at Cummings Point, but he missed. Given the available manpower, Anderson could not take advantage of all of his 60 guns. He deliberately avoided using guns that were situated in the fort where casualties were most likely. The fort's best cannons were mounted on the uppermost of its three tiers—the barbette tier—where his troops were most exposed to incoming fire from overhead. The fort had been designed to withstand
1152-506: A compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery that could result, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854. Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his " Peoria Speech " of October 1854. Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to
1296-506: A condition now thought to be clinical depression . Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and in 1875 Robert committed her to an asylum. During 1831 and 1832, Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem, Illinois . In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives , but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in
1440-532: A design to proceed to a hostile act. Pickens, therefore, ordered that all remaining Federal positions except Fort Sumter were to be seized. State troops quickly occupied Fort Moultrie (capturing 56 guns), Fort Johnson on James Island , and the battery on Morris Island . On December 27, an assault force of 150 men seized the Union-occupied Castle Pinckney fortification, in the harbor close to downtown Charleston, capturing 24 guns and mortars, while
1584-486: A disciple of Henry Clay". Their party favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and urbanization. In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois's 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives ; he was defeated by John J. Hardin , though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining
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#17330851732811728-573: A federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote that black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for infringing upon slave owners' "property" rights. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end
1872-586: A formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan , and in 1844, began his practice with William Herndon , "a studious young man". On January 27, 1838, Abraham Lincoln, then 28 years old, delivered his first major speech at the Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois , after the murder of newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy in Alton. Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush
2016-719: A fort is no bad business." The South sent delegations to Washington, D.C., and offered to pay for the Federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with the Confederate agents because he did not consider the Confederacy a legitimate nation and making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government. However, Secretary of State William H. Seward , who wished to give up Sumter for political reasons—as
2160-615: A gesture of good will—engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed. On April 4, as the supply situation on Sumter became critical, President Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, to be commanded by a former naval captain (and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy) Gustavus V. Fox , who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of smaller vessels than the Star of the West . Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only, and if he
2304-718: A group largely loyal to Chase, Lincoln shrewdly made no reference to either of these Republican rivals for the nomination." In response to an inquiry about his ambitions, Lincoln said, "The taste is in my mouth a little". On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur . Lincoln's followers organized a campaign team led by David Davis , Norman Judd , Leonard Swett , and Jesse DuBois, and Lincoln received his first endorsement. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend (clearing land and splitting fence rails), Lincoln's supporters adopted
2448-598: A gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14 caused the death of two U.S. Army soldiers. The event often regarded as the "First Bloodshed of the Civil War" was the Baltimore riot of 1861 , one week later. Following the battle, there was widespread support from both North and South for further military action. Lincoln's immediate call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion resulted in an additional four Southern states also declaring their secession and joining
2592-438: A household including her father, nine-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln. On December 2, 1819, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston , a widow from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, with three children of her own. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mother". Dennis Hanks said he
2736-692: A killing of American soldiers by Mexican cavalry patrol in disputed territory, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil". Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. The resolution was ignored in both Congress and the national papers, and it cost Lincoln political support in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers. Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in
2880-595: A leader of the new Republican Party . He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas . Lincoln ran for president in 1860 , sweeping the North to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation . They formed the Confederate States of America, which began seizing federal military bases in
3024-494: A man, Anderson agreed to a truce at 2:00 p.m. Fort Sumter raised Wigfall's white handkerchief on its flagpole as Wigfall departed in his small boat back to Morris Island, where he was hailed as a hero. The handkerchief was spotted in Charleston and a delegation of officers representing Beauregard—Stephen D. Lee, Porcher Miles , a former mayor of Charleston, and Roger Pryor—sailed to Sumter, unaware of Wigfall's visit. Anderson
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#17330851732813168-445: A naval assault, and naval warships of the time did not mount guns capable of elevating to shoot over the walls of the fort. However, the land-based cannons manned by the Confederates were capable of high-arcing ballistic trajectories and could therefore fire at parts of the fort that would have been out of naval guns' reach. Fort Sumter's garrison could only safely fire the 21 working guns on the lowest level, which themselves, because of
3312-559: A patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases; he was sole counsel in 51 cases, of which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860, one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad . His legal reputation gave rise to
3456-467: A rain shower extinguished the flames and, at the same time, the Union gunners stopped firing for the night. They slept fitfully, concerned about a potential infantry assault against the fort. During the darkness, the Confederates reduced their fire to four shots each hour. The following morning, the full bombardment resumed and the Confederates continued firing hot shot against the wooden buildings. By noon most of
3600-501: A reply, which he handed to Anderson at 3:20 a.m.: "Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said "If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in
3744-477: A siege. In March, Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard , the first general officer of the newly formed Confederate States Army , was placed in command of Confederate forces in Charleston. Beauregard energetically directed the strengthening of batteries around Charleston harbor aimed at Fort Sumter. Conditions in the fort deteriorated due to shortages of men, food, and supplies as the Union soldiers rushed to complete
3888-486: A success over a powerful Whig opponent. Then followed his four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County . He championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal , and later was a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage beyond white landowners to all white males, but adopted a "free soil" stance opposing both slavery and abolition . In 1837, he declared, "[The] Institution of slavery
4032-533: A total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by age 15. Nonetheless, he remained an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his readings included the King James Bible , Aesop's Fables , John Bunyan 's The Pilgrim's Progress , Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe , and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . Despite being self-educated, Lincoln
4176-605: Is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils." He echoed Henry Clay 's support for the American Colonization Society which advocated a program of abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia . He was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, 1836, and moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart , Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln emerged as
4320-413: Is possible to do, and General Beauregard wants to stop this fight. On what terms, Major Anderson, will you evacuate this fort?" Anderson was encouraged that Wigfall had said "evacuate," not "surrender." He was low on ammunition, fires were burning out of control, and his men were hungry and exhausted. Satisfied that they had defended their post with honor, enduring over 3,000 Confederate rounds without losing
4464-455: Is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won." The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands. The principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically. Lincoln warned that
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4608-486: The American Civil War . Following the declaration of secession by South Carolina on December 20, 1860, its authorities demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor . On December 26, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army surreptitiously moved his small command from the vulnerable Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island to Fort Sumter, a substantial fortress built on an island controlling
4752-557: The Fort Sumter Flag with him north, where it became a widely known symbol of the battle and rallying point for supporters of the Union. This inspired Frederic Edwin Church to paint Our Banner in the Sky , described as a "symbolic landscape embodying the stars and stripes." A chromolithograph was then created and sold to benefit the families of Union soldiers. The bombardment of Fort Sumter
4896-524: The Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War . When Lincoln returned home from the Black Hawk War , he planned to become a blacksmith, but instead formed a partnership with 21-year-old William Berry, with whom he purchased a New Salem general store on credit. Because a license was required to sell customers beverages, Berry obtained bartending licenses for $ 7 each for Lincoln and himself, and in 1833
5040-477: The Lincoln-Berry General Store became a tavern as well. As licensed bartenders, Lincoln and Berry were able to sell spirits, including liquor, for 12 cents a pint. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. Although the economy was booming,
5184-616: The Slave Power was threatening the values of republicanism, and he accused Douglas of distorting the Founding Fathers' premise that all men are created equal . In his Freeport Doctrine , Douglas argued that, despite the Dred Scott decision, which he claimed to support, local settlers, under the doctrine of popular sovereignty , should be free to choose whether to allow slavery within their territory, and he accused Lincoln of having joined
5328-514: The State Journal tilting Republican and the State Register tilting Democratic. The two papers merged in 1974 as The State Journal-Register . Fairport, New York –based GateHouse Media bought The State Journal-Register , along with most of Copley's other Midwestern titles, in 2007. In November 2019, GateHouse was merged with Gannett , forming the largest newspaper chain in the U.S. Since
5472-621: The War Democrats and the Radical Republicans , demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. Anti-war Democrats (called " Copperheads ") despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot his assassination. His Gettysburg Address became one of
5616-546: The telegraphic news from Chicago to find out who would be the Republican presidential nominee in 1860 . Later in publication, the name was changed to Illinois State Journal . The cover-price is $ 2 daily, $ 4.50 on Sunday. Copley Press bought the State Journal in 1927. In 1942, it bought Springfield's afternoon paper, the Illinois State Register . For years, the two papers maintained separate editorial stances, with
5760-545: The 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate, rivaled by William H. Seward , Salmon P. Chase , Edward Bates , and Simon Cameron . While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the presidential nomination if offered and, in
5904-524: The 1st U.S. Artillery, and Second Lt. Norman J. Hall of Company H. Capt. John G. Foster and First Lt. George W. Snyder of the Corps of Engineers were responsible for the construction of the Charleston forts, but they reported to their headquarters in Washington, not directly to Anderson. The remaining personnel were 68 noncommissioned officers and privates, eight musicians, and 43 noncombatant workmen. By April
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6048-419: The Charleston harbor area, including an unusual floating battery . President Buchanan was surprised and dismayed at Anderson's move to Sumter, unaware of the authorization Anderson had received. Nevertheless, he refused Pickens's demand to evacuate Charleston harbor. Since the garrison's supplies were limited, Buchanan authorized a relief expedition of supplies, small arms, and 200 soldiers. The original intent
6192-597: The Confederacy. After the formation of the Confederate States of America in early February, there was some debate among the secessionists whether the capture of the fort was rightly a matter for South Carolina or for the newly declared national government in Montgomery, Alabama . Pickens was among the states' rights advocates who thought that all property in Charleston harbor had reverted to South Carolina upon that state's secession as an independent commonwealth. This debate ran alongside another discussion about how aggressively
6336-520: The Confederacy. The battle is usually recognized as the first of the American Civil War. On December 20, 1860, shortly after Abraham Lincoln 's victory in the presidential election of 1860 , South Carolina adopted an ordinance declaring its secession from the United States of America , and by February 1861 six more Southern states had adopted similar ordinances of secession. On February 7,
6480-596: The Confederate artillery positions on Morris Island (beginning with the Second Battle of Fort Wagner , July 1863, and followed by a siege until September). After pounding Sumter to rubble with artillery fire, a final amphibious operation attempted to occupy it (the Second Battle of Fort Sumter , September 1863), but was repulsed and no further attempts were made. The Confederates evacuated Fort Sumter and Charleston in February 1865 as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman outflanked
6624-457: The Confederate fire, but the secrecy of the operation had kept him unaware that a relief expedition was in progress and he chose not to start a general engagement. In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, Pickens demanded of President Buchanan that he surrender Fort Sumter because, "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina." Conditions at
6768-459: The Confederates about whether the fort was ready to surrender. Col. Louis Wigfall , a former U.S. senator, had been observing the battle and decided that this indicated the fort had endured enough. He commandeered a small boat and proceeded from Morris Island, waving a white handkerchief from his sword, dodging incoming rounds from Sullivan's Island. Meeting with Major Anderson, he said, "You have defended your flag nobly, Sir. You have done all that it
6912-509: The Confederates did the same, firing the hot shots almost exclusively. Many of the Confederate soldiers admired the courage and determination of the Yankees. When the fort had to pause its firing, the Confederates often cheered and applauded after the firing resumed and they shouted epithets at some of the nearby Union ships for failing to come to the fort's aid. The fort's central flagpole was knocked down at 1 p.m. on April 13, raising doubts among
7056-583: The House. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 presidential election . Taylor won and Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed Commissioner of the United States General Land Office . The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. This distant territory
7200-539: The Know-Nothings nominated former Whig President Millard Fillmore . Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois. Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise . After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned
7344-569: The Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted. In an 1859 murder case, leading up to his presidential campaign, Lincoln elevated his profile with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison, who was a third cousin; Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent, Rev. Peter Cartwright . Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who, as he lay dying of his wounds, confessed to Cartwright that he had provoked Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested
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#17330851732817488-732: The New York Tribune, at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincoln's compromising position on slavery and his reluctance to challenge the court's Dred Scott ruling, which was promptly used against him by his political rivals. On February 27, 1860, powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union , in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between
7632-521: The South. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter , a U.S. fort in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union. Lincoln, a moderate Republican , had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies,
7776-511: The U.S. as a nation. "It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher", said Lincoln. Prior to that, on April 28, 1836, a black man, Francis McIntosh , was burned alive in St. Louis , Missouri . Zann Gill describes how these two murders set off a chain reaction that ultimately prompted Abraham Lincoln to run for President. True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in 1861 to be "an old line Whig,
7920-591: The Union and abolish slavery. He is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln , in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky . He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln , an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk , to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts , in 1638. The family through subsequent generations migrated west, passing through New Jersey , Pennsylvania , and Virginia . Lincoln
8064-792: The Union and join the Confederacy. The ensuing war lasted four years, effectively ending in April 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia at New Appomattox Court House . Charleston Harbor was completely in Confederate hands for almost the entire four-year duration of the war, leaving a hole in the Union naval blockade . Union forces conducted major operations in 1862 and 1863 to capture Charleston, first overland on James Island (the Battle of Secessionville , June 1862), then by naval assault against Fort Sumter (the First Battle of Charleston Harbor , April 1863), then by seizing
8208-399: The Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. The stage was then set for the election of the Illinois legislature which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln]
8352-403: The Union troops had positioned 60 guns, but they had insufficient men to operate them all. The fort consisted of three levels of enclosed gun positions, or casemates . The second level of casemates was unoccupied. The majority of the guns were on the first level of casemates, on the upper level (the parapet or barbette positions), and on the center parade field. Unfortunately for the defenders,
8496-423: The West approached the harbor entrance on January 9, 1861, it was fired upon by a battery on Morris Island, which was staffed by cadets from The Citadel , among them William Stewart Simkins , who were the only trained artillerymen in the service of South Carolina at the time. Batteries from Fort Moultrie joined in and Star of the West was forced to withdraw. Major Anderson prepared his guns at Sumter when he heard
8640-529: The Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in 1855, "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an abolitionist. ... I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to antislavery, drawing from
8784-505: The abolitionists. Lincoln's argument assumed a moral tone, as he claimed that Douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery. Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision. Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and
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#17330851732818928-461: The antislavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil , Liberty , and antislavery Democratic Party members, Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties, fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs, though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement. In 1854, Lincoln
9072-477: The attack "will lose us every friend at the North. You will only strike a hornet's nest. ... Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal." Beauregard dispatched aides—Col. James Chesnut , Col. James A. Chisholm, and Capt. Stephen D. Lee —to Fort Sumter on April 11 to issue the ultimatum. Anderson refused, although he reportedly commented, "I shall await
9216-492: The beginning of the battle and workmen sewed frantically to create more, in some cases using socks from Anderson's personal wardrobe. Because of the shortages, Anderson reduced his firing to only six guns: two aimed at Cummings Point, two at Fort Moultrie, and two at the Sullivan's Island batteries. Ships from Fox's relief expedition began to arrive on April 12. Although Fox himself arrived at 3 a.m. on his steamer Baltic , most of
9360-461: The business struggled and went into debt, causing Lincoln to sell his share. In his first campaign speech after returning from his military service, Lincoln observed a supporter in the crowd under attack, grabbed the assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and tossed him. In the campaign, Lincoln advocated for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River . He could draw crowds as
9504-450: The change in ownership, the paper has downsized its staff, leading to internal controversy and at least one editor resigning in protest. In 2022, the paper announced it would stop printing its Saturday edition. This article about an Illinois newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( / ˈ l ɪ ŋ k ən / LINK -ən ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)
9648-471: The city in the Carolinas campaign . On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after lowering the Fort Sumter Flag in surrender, Robert Anderson (by then a major general , although ill and in retired status) returned to the ruined fort to raise the flag he had lowered in 1861. Two of the cannons used at Fort Sumter were later presented to Louisiana State University by General William Tecumseh Sherman , who
9792-457: The dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. Lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power . He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and
9936-417: The early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her; however, they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied. In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois , and
10080-455: The entrance of Charleston Harbor. An attempt by U.S. President James Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Anderson using the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West failed when it was fired upon by shore batteries on January 9, 1861. The ship was hit three times, which caused no major damage but nonetheless kept the supplies from reaching Anderson. During the early months of 1861, the situation around Fort Sumter increasingly began to resemble
10224-633: The extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County . Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part, due to his father's lack of interest in education. In 1831, as Thomas and other family members prepared to move to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois , Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem, Illinois , for six years. Lincoln and some friends took goods, including live hogs, by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana , where he first witnessed slavery. Speculation persists that Lincoln's first romantic interest
10368-538: The family moved to Indiana , where the land surveys and titles were more reliable. They settled in an "unbroken forest" in Hurricane Township, Perry County, Indiana . When the Lincolns moved to Indiana it "had just been admitted to the Union" as a "free" (non-slaveholding) state, except that, though "no new enslaved people were allowed, ... currently enslaved individuals remained so". In 1860, Lincoln noted that
10512-675: The family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky , in the early 1800s. Lincoln's mother Nancy Lincoln is widely assumed to be the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12, 1806, in Washington County, and moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky . They had three children: Sarah , Abraham, and Thomas, who died as an infant. Thomas Lincoln bought multiple farms in Kentucky, but could not get clear property titles to any, losing hundreds of acres of land in property disputes. In 1816,
10656-829: The family's move to Indiana was "partly on account of slavery", but mainly due to land title difficulties. In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, paid taxes, sat on juries, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptist Church , which "condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, and dancing." Most of its members opposed slavery. Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas in 1827 obtained clear title to 80 acres (32 ha) in Indiana, an area that became known as Little Pigeon Creek Community . On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness , leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of
10800-400: The first general officer in the armed forces of the new Confederacy, specifically to take command of the siege. Beauregard made repeated demands that the Union force either surrender or withdraw, and took steps to ensure that no supplies from the city were available to the defenders, whose food was running low. He also increased drills amongst the South Carolina militia, training them to operate
10944-730: The first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days." The aides returned to Charleston and reported this comment to Beauregard. At 1 a.m. on April 12, the aides brought Anderson a message from Beauregard: "If you will state the time which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree in the meantime that you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you." After consulting with his senior officers, Maj. Anderson replied that he would evacuate Sumter by noon, April 15, unless he received new orders from his government or additional supplies. Col. Chesnut considered this reply to be too conditional and wrote
11088-457: The first shots at Sumter, a 64-pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents (including diarist Mary Chesnut ), who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort. Major Anderson held his fire, awaiting daylight. His troops reported for
11232-413: The first six rounds of voting, he was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull . Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots; his supporters, also antislavery Democrats, had vowed not to support any Whig. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat
11376-453: The first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech , with the biblical reference Mark 3:25 , "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect
11520-427: The floating battery, and Cummings Point. Under orders from Beauregard, the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours. Edmund Ruffin , another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present at the beginning of the war, and after the signal round, fired one of
11664-480: The following months, several local papers endorsed his candidacy. Over the coming months Lincoln was tireless, making nearly fifty speeches along the campaign trail. By the quality and simplicity of his rhetoric, he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States , he was less appreciated in the east. Horace Greeley , editor of
11808-507: The following year they became engaged. She was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd , a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington, Kentucky . Their wedding, which was set for January 1, 1841, was canceled because Lincoln did not appear, but they reconciled and married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield home of Mary's sister. While anxiously preparing for the nuptials, he was asked where he
11952-419: The fort to Confederate personnel at 2:30 p.m., April 13. No one from either side was killed during the bombardment. During the 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag—Anderson's one condition for withdrawal—a pile of cartridges blew up from a spark, mortally wounding privates Daniel Hough and Edward Galloway , and seriously wounding the other four members of the gun crew; these were the first military fatalities of
12096-749: The fort were difficult during the winter of 1860–1861. Rations were short and fuel for heat was limited. The garrison scrambled to complete the defenses as best they could. Fort Sumter was designed to mount 135 guns, operated by 650 officers and men, but construction had met with numerous delays for decades and budget cuts had left it only about 90 percent finished in early 1861. Anderson's garrison consisted of just 85 men, primarily made up of two small artillery companies : Company E, 1st U.S. Artillery , commanded by Capt. Abner Doubleday , and Company H, commanded by Capt. Truman Seymour . There were six other officers present: Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford , First Lt. Theodore Talbot of Company H, First Lt. Jefferson C. Davis of
12240-623: The fort." Lincoln's notification had been made to the governor of South Carolina, not the new Confederate government, which Lincoln did not recognize. Pickens consulted with Beauregard, the local Confederate commander. Soon President Davis ordered Beauregard to repeat the demand for Sumter's surrender, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before the relief expedition arrived. The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis's order on April 9. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis
12384-480: The full call for 75,000 men by themselves. Other governors from border states were undiplomatic in their responses. For example, Gov. Claiborne Jackson wrote, "Not one man will the state of Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade", and Gov. Beriah Magoffin wrote, "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states." The call for 75,000 troops triggered four additional slave states to declare their secession from
12528-485: The garrison began clearing away the dunes, the papers objected. Major Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery regiment had been appointed to command the Charleston garrison that fall because of rising tensions. A native of Kentucky, he was a protégé of Winfield Scott , the general in chief of the Army, and was thought more capable of handling a crisis than the garrison's previous commander, Col. John L. Gardner , who
12672-605: The guns they manned. Major Anderson had been Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point ; the two had been especially close, and Beauregard had become Anderson's assistant after graduation. Both sides spent March drilling and improving their fortifications to the best of their abilities. Beauregard, a trained military engineer, built up overwhelming strength to challenge Fort Sumter. Fort Moultrie had three 8-inch Columbiads , two 8-inch howitzers , five 32-pound smoothbores , and four 24-pounders. Outside of Moultrie were five 10-inch mortars , two 32-pounders, two 24-pounders, and
12816-463: The heat, four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no provision but pork remaining, I accepted terms of evacuation, offered by Gen. Beauregard, being the same offered by him on the 11th inst., prior to the commencement of hostilities, and marched out of the fort Sunday afternoon, the 14th inst., with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away company and private property, and saluting my flag with fifty guns. Anderson carried
12960-413: The immediate evacuation of Fort Sumter, which Major Anderson refused. Beginning at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, the Confederates bombarded the fort from artillery batteries surrounding the harbor. Although the Union garrison returned fire, they were significantly outgunned and, after 34 hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate. There were no deaths on either side as a direct result of this engagement, although
13104-413: The installation of additional guns. The resupply of Fort Sumter became the first crisis of the administration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln , inaugurated March 4, 1861, following his victory in the election of November 6, 1860 . He notified the governor of South Carolina , Francis Wilkinson Pickens , that he was sending supply ships, which resulted in an ultimatum from the Confederate government for
13248-596: The installations—including Forts Sumter and Pickens—should be obtained. President Davis, like his counterpart in Washington, preferred that his side not be seen as the aggressor. Both sides believed that the first side to use force would lose precious political support in the border states, whose allegiance was undetermined; before Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, five states had voted against secession, including Virginia , and Lincoln openly offered to evacuate Fort Sumter if it would guarantee Virginia's loyalty. When asked about that offer, Abraham Lincoln commented, "A state for
13392-469: The judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay . Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal. The debate over
13536-412: The label of "The Rail Candidate". In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes." Michael Martinez wrote about the effective imaging of Lincoln by his campaign. At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he
13680-435: The last extremity. The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on or attempt to take possession of any one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar steps whenever you have tangible evidence of
13824-483: The latter in the so-called Iron Battery, protected by a wooden shield faced with iron bars. About 6,000 men were available to man the artillery and to assault the fort, if necessary, including the local militia, young boys, and older men. On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president. He was almost immediately confronted with the surprise information that Major Anderson was reporting that only six weeks of rations remained at Fort Sumter. A crisis similar to
13968-448: The law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done." The deaths of their sons Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from " melancholy ",
14112-523: The legislature re-elected Douglas. However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. In May 1859, Lincoln purchased the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger , a German-language newspaper that was consistently supportive; most of the state's 130,000 German Americans voted for Democrats, but the German-language paper mobilized Republican support. In the aftermath of
14256-520: The limited elevation allowed by their embrasures , were largely incapable of delivering fire with trajectories high enough to seriously threaten Fort Moultrie. Moreover, although the Federals had moved as many of their supplies to Fort Sumter as they could manage, the fort was quite low on ammunition and was nearly out at the end of the 34-hour bombardment. A more immediate problem was the scarcity of cloth gunpowder cartridges or bags; only 700 were available at
14400-677: The mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson . Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention , which formally established the Illinois Republican Party . The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in
14544-474: The midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly river barge conflicts under the many new railroad bridges. As a riverboat man, Lincoln initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him. He later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company , a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849 he received
14688-575: The most famous speeches in American history. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere , and he averted war with Britain by defusing the Trent Affair . In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which declared
14832-469: The next." At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Lt. Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Capt. George S. James, fired a single 10-inch mortar round from Fort Johnson. (James had offered the first shot to Roger Pryor , a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war.") The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson,
14976-410: The nickname "Honest Abe". In an 1858 criminal trial, Lincoln represented William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing
15120-409: The night and were transported the next morning to Fox's relief ship Baltic , resting outside the harbor bar. Hon. S. Cameron, Sec'y. of War, Washington, D. C. Sir—Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, until the quarters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge wall seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effects of
15264-604: The nomination in 1846, but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department . Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for
15408-401: The office of an established attorney, as was the custom, Lincoln borrowed legal texts from attorneys John Todd Stuart and Thomas Drummond , purchased books including Blackstone 's Commentaries and Chitty 's Pleadings , and read law on his own. He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody." Lincoln's second state house campaign in 1834, this time as a Whig , was
15552-437: The one at Fort Sumter had emerged at Pensacola, Florida , where Confederates threatened another U.S. fortification— Fort Pickens . Lincoln and his new cabinet struggled with the decisions of whether to reinforce the forts, and how. They were also concerned about whether to take actions that might start open hostilities and which side would be perceived as the aggressor as a result. Similar discussions and concerns were occurring in
15696-475: The original mission of the fort—harbor defense—meant that it was designed so that the guns were primarily aimed at the Atlantic, with little capability of protecting from artillery fire from the surrounding land or from infantry conducting an amphibious assault. In March, Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard took command of South Carolina forces in Charleston; on March 1, President Jefferson Davis had appointed him
15840-698: The owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support. On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War , which he imputed President James K. Polk 's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso , a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions . The war had begun with
15984-469: The presidency. He said the Kansas Act had a " declared indifference, but as I must think, a covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world...." Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life. Nationally
16128-542: The pursuit of happiness". In 1858, Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858, and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. Some eastern Republicans supported Douglas for his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and admission of Kansas as a slave state . Many Illinois Republicans resented this eastern interference. For
16272-482: The rest of his fleet was delayed until 6 p.m., and one of the two warships, USS Powhatan , never did arrive. Unbeknownst to Fox, it had been ordered to the relief of Fort Pickens in Florida. As small craft were sent toward the fort with supplies, the artillery fire deterred them and they pulled back. Fox decided to wait until after dark and for the arrival of his warships. The next day, heavy seas made it difficult to load
16416-523: The right and the wrong". Many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly. But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership, which brought him into contention. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience". Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant. Appearing in Seward's home state, sponsored by
16560-629: The seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at Montgomery , Alabama . A February peace conference met in Washington, D.C. , but failed to resolve the crisis. The remaining eight slave states declined pleas to join the Confederacy. The seceding states seized Federal properties within their boundaries, including buildings, arsenals, and fortifications. President James Buchanan protested but took no action. Buchanan
16704-529: The slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons" and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." Lincoln pressured border states to outlaw slavery, and he promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime. Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign . He sought to heal
16848-463: The small U.S. Army garrison retired to Fort Sumter to join Major Robert Anderson . On December 30, the Federal arsenal in Charleston was captured, resulting in the acquisition of more than 22,000 weapons by the militia. The Confederates promptly made repairs at Fort Moultrie and dozens of new batteries and defense positions armed with weapons captured from the arsenal were constructed throughout
16992-458: The small boats with men and supplies and Fox was left with the hope that Anderson and his men could hold out until dark on April 13. Although Sumter was a masonry fort, there were wooden buildings inside for barracks and officer quarters. The Confederates targeted these with heated shot (cannonballs heated red hot in a furnace), starting fires that could have proven more dangerous to the men than explosive artillery shells. At 7 p.m. on April 12,
17136-643: The status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North, with the failure of the Compromise of 1850 , a legislative package designed to address the issue. In his 1852 eulogy for Clay, Lincoln highlighted the latter's support for gradual emancipation and opposition to "both extremes" on the slavery issue. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as
17280-525: The territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention , though Lincoln received support to run as vice president, John C. Frémont and William Dayton were on the ticket, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated former Secretary of State James Buchanan and
17424-458: The war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox , he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary , when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth . Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve
17568-520: The war. The salute was stopped at fifty shots. Hough was buried in the Fort Sumter parade ground within two hours after the explosion. Galloway and Private George Fielding were sent to the hospital in Charleston, where Galloway died a few days later; Fielding was released after six weeks. The other wounded men and the remaining Union troops were placed aboard a Confederate steamer, the Isabel , where they spent
17712-573: The wooden buildings in the fort and the main gate were on fire. The flames moved toward the main ammunition magazine, where 300 barrels of gunpowder were stored. The Union soldiers frantically tried to move the barrels to safety, but two-thirds were left when Anderson judged it was too dangerous and ordered the magazine doors closed. He ordered the remaining barrels thrown into the sea, but the tide kept floating them back together into groups, some of which were ignited by incoming artillery rounds. He also ordered his crews to redouble their efforts at firing, but
17856-560: The world. In the fall of 1860 work on the fort was nearly completed, but the fortress was thus far garrisoned by a single soldier, who functioned as a lighthouse keeper, and a small party of civilian construction workers. Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter. South Carolina authorities considered Anderson's move to be
18000-485: Was Ann Rutledge , whom he met when he moved to New Salem. However, witness testimony, given decades afterward, showed a lack of any specific recollection of a romance between the two. Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever ; Lincoln took the death very hard, saying that he could not bear the idea of rain falling on Ann's grave. Lincoln sank into a serious episode of depression, and this gave rise to speculation that he had been in love with her. In
18144-556: Was "Honest Abe", unpolished but trustworthy. Battle of Fort Sumter Confederate victory The Battle of Fort Sumter (also the Attack on Fort Sumter or the Fall of Fort Sumter ) (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina , by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the fort by the United States Army , beginning
18288-498: Was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice. In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled "every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". Twice a year he appeared for 10 consecutive weeks in county seats in the Midstate county courts; this continued for 16 years. Lincoln handled transportation cases in
18432-538: Was also a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia ; his paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba (née Herring) moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky . The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, Abraham's father, witnessed the attack. Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before
18576-514: Was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln , was born on April 4, 1853, and survived his father, but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. In fact, Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln brought his children to
18720-443: Was concerned that an overt action could cause the remaining slave states to leave the Union, and while he thought that there was no constitutional authority for a state to secede, he could find no constitutional authority for him to act to prevent it. Several forts had been constructed in Charleston's harbor, including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie , which were not among the sites seized initially. Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island
18864-464: Was elected to the Illinois legislature, but before the term began in January he declined to take his seat so that he would be eligible to be a candidate in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. The year's elections showed the strong opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and in the aftermath Lincoln sought election to the U.S. Senate. At that time, senators were elected by state legislatures. After leading in
19008-529: Was going and replied, "To hell, I suppose". In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative. Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home. The eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln , was born in 1843, and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie), born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln
19152-434: Was lazy, for all his "reading—scribbling—writing—ciphering—writing poetry". His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor" but loved to read. Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers . It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read, but probably not to write. In Indiana at age seven, due to farm chores, he attended school only sporadically, for
19296-410: Was merely moving his existing garrison troops from one of the locations under his command to another. He had received instructions from the War Department on December 11, written by Major General Don Carlos Buell , Assistant Adjutant General of the Army, approved by Secretary of War John B. Floyd : [Y]ou are to hold possession of the forts in this harbor, and if attacked you are to defend yourself to
19440-492: Was nearing retirement. Anderson had served an earlier tour of duty at Fort Moultrie and his father had been a defender of the fort (then called Fort Sullivan) during the American Revolutionary War . Throughout the fall, South Carolina authorities considered both secession and the expropriation of federal property in the harbor to be inevitable. As tensions mounted, the environment around the fort increasingly resembled
19584-508: Was opposed by the Confederates, to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men. This time, Maj. Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him. On April 6, Lincoln notified Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, [except] in case of an attack on
19728-429: Was outraged when these officers disavowed Wigfall's authority, telling him that the former senator had not spoken with Beauregard for two days, and he threatened to resume firing. Meanwhile, General Beauregard himself had finally seen the handkerchief and sent a second set of officers, offering essentially the same terms that Wigfall had presented, so the agreement was reinstated. The Union garrison formally surrendered
19872-635: Was president of the university before the war began. The U.S. Post Office Department released the Fort Sumter Centennial issue as the first in the series of five stamps marking the Civil War Centennial on April 12, 1961, at the Charleston post office. The stamp was designed by Charles R. Chickering . It illustrates a seacoast gun from Fort Sumter aimed by an officer in a typical uniform of the time. The background features palmetto leaves akin to bursting shells. The state tree of South Carolina,
20016-528: Was tall, strong, and athletic, and became adept at using an ax. He was an active wrestler during his youth and trained in the rough catch-as-catch-can style (also known as catch wrestling). He became county wrestling champion at the age of 21. He gained a reputation for his strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as the Clary's Grove boys. In March 1830, fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of
20160-466: Was the 16th president of the United States , serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War , defending the nation as a constitutional union , defeating the Confederacy , playing a major role in the abolition of slavery , expanding the power of the federal government , and modernizing the U.S. economy . Lincoln was born into poverty in
20304-485: Was the first military action of the American Civil War. Following the surrender, Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call for all states to send troops to recapture the forts and preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days. Some Northern states filled their quotas quickly. There were so many volunteers in Ohio that within 16 days they could have met
20448-401: Was the oldest—it was the site of fortifications since 1776—and was the headquarters of the U.S. Army garrison. However, it had been designed as a gun platform for defending the harbor, and its defenses against land-based attacks were feeble; during the crisis, the Charleston newspapers commented that sand dunes had piled up against the walls in such a way that the wall could easily be scaled. When
20592-435: Was the recipient of honorary degrees later in life, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from Columbia University in June 1861. When Lincoln was a teen, his "father grew more and more to depend on him for the 'farming, grubbing, hoeing, making fences' necessary to keep the family afloat. He also regularly hired his son out to work ... and by law, he was entitled to everything the boy earned until he came of age". Lincoln
20736-472: Was to send the Navy sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn , but it was discovered that Confederates had sunk some derelict ships to block the shipping channel into Charleston and there was concern that Brooklyn had too deep a draft to negotiate the obstacles. Instead, it seemed prudent to send an unarmed civilian merchant ship, Star of the West , which might be perceived as less provocative to the Confederates. As Star of
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