The 1860's was filled with momentous and catastrophic events. Some of these events were the election of Abraham Lincoln, the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was the main focus of the 1860's along with the decisions he made. He was also a cause for the Civil War, which was fought between the Union and the Confederates. While serving his term he also issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved African Americans in states at war with the Union.

Abraham Lincoln was an essential character of the 1860's. He was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Lincoln was elected president March 4, 1860 and became the 16 th president of the United States. Although he was elected in 1860 he did not start his term untill 1861. Not only was he the 16 the president but he was also the leader of the Union, and was against the expansion of slavery. Lincoln believed if they did not let slavery spread and tkept in one place it would eventually cease to exist. Because of this the south was not in favor of him. Many major decisions such as the issuing of The Emancipation Proclamation were decided by him. He also wrote one of the best known orations in American History, the Gettysburg Address. In it he reminded all of his followers and listeners of the importance of all men being created equal. After accomplishing many things, Abraham was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.

Among the many wars fought by the Americans, the Civil War was one most gruesome. It was a war fought between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South).   The causes of the war were a series of events that piled up and led to the Union and Confederacy being able to agree on only one thing, war.   One of the reasons was the division of states. The Union was composed of free states while the Confederates took a different approach and were slave states. Many other things such as the election of Abraham Lincoln added fuel to the fire already burning between these two groups. Another conflict between the North and South was that the Union wanted any new states that entered the United States to become free states. This created an unbalanced or unequal amount of slave and free states. The Confederates of course, did not like this and opposed the idea, but could not come to an agreement with the Union. As a result of this, the Confederates decided to secede from the Union, and become their own country. The Confederates demanded the control of Fort Sumter n Southern California, but were denied any access to it. On April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was attacked making the war unavoidable. The Confederates won and took over Fort Sumter for four years. Although they took over Fort Sumter, the Union had many advantages over the Confederates. These being the following: they had strong naval tradition, more than twice the population to draw an army, a larger treasury, and their advance in technology which enabled them to transport supplies. The South had a stronger military but it could not adequately finance the war and was also limited in supplies they could receive because of the North's blockade of Southern ports. After hundreds and thousands of casualties, the Confederates surrendered. The war resulted in strengthening the Union because the war ended the problem of secession and the freedom of about 4 MILLION black slaves.

In September 22, 1862 Lincoln publicly announced that he was going to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. There were two parts to the Emancipation Proclamation, part one was issued on September 22 and freed African Americans who lived in a state at war with the Union. The second one was issued January 1 st , 1863 and enumerated the specific territories where it applied. The South did not like this, because it freed slaves that were non Union slaves, which ultimately meant the Union had no power over them. The Proclamation did not effect any of the Border States and only effected the slaves that had already escaped to the North, but as the Union conquered they freed many slaves leaving the South with less and less slaves, making them very unhappy.   The Proclamation was important because it allowed for the enrollment of freed slaves to join the United States military. Nearly 200,000 enrolled because of this Proclamation and gave the Union an additional power that the Confederates were not able to attain.

The 1860's was a decade of blood, hardships, leadership and perseverance. The Civil War was an important and very defining moment in our history. It took up most of the 1860's and left us with what we have today. If this battle would have never been fought we might all still being living in a word full of slavery and injustice. In this decade we also had a man who some people consider the greatest American President, and who also led the Union through one of the most gruesome wars in history, Abraham Lincoln.

Book Sources:

Golay, Michael. The Civil War. New York: Facts On File,1992

Kent, Zachary. The Civil War "A House Divided". New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 1994

Gay Kathlyn.Martin. Voices From The Past "Civil War". Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books, 1995

Burns, Roger A. Abraham Lincoln. New York: Chelsea House, 1986

Internet Sources:

Abraham Lincoln

http://www.crpusd.org/goldridge/pictures/bios/lincoln.jpg

Emancipation Proclamation

http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/humanrights/timeline/emancipation-proclamation.jpg