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| Sunday, 26 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Famous Trials that shook
the World :
Trial of Abraham Lincoln by Lionel Wijesiri
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history-the civil war. He is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American President. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Kentucky. His father was a carpenter and farmer. Lincoln had gone to school briefly in Kentucky and did so again in Indiana when the family moved in there. He attended school with his older sister, Sarah (his younger brother, Thomas, had died in infancy). As Lincoln grew up, he loved to read and preferred learning to working in the fields. He was constantly borrowing books from the neighbours. In 1828 Lincoln's sister died and three years later he moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he lived until 1837. While there, he worked at several jobs including operating a store, surveying, and serving as a postmaster. He impressed the residents with his character, wrestled the town bully, and earned the nickname "Honest Abe". In 1832, he made an unsuccessful run for the Illinois legislature. He ran again in 1834, 1836, 1838 and 1940 and won all four times. Additionally, he studied law in his spare time and became a lawyer in 1836. In Springfield in 1839 Lincoln met Mary Todd. Three years later they were married and over the next 11 years had four children. Lincoln became a successful attorney. In 1846 Lincoln ran for the United States House of Representatives and won. While in Washington he became known for his opposition to slavery. He returned home after his term and resumed his law practice more seriously than ever. In 1858, Lincoln and Stephen Douglas ran against each other for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. The two candidates held a series of debates known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Although Douglas won the election, Lincoln gained national attention for his anti-slavery views. In the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln defeated Douglas and two other candidates to become the 16th President of the United States. The Southern States reaction to Lincoln's election was quick and decisive. Within three months of the election before Lincoln was even sworn in, seven Southern States seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. In all, eleven States would eventually join the confederation. Lincoln's inauguration was held during the first week of March. Six weeks later, on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, and the war between the North and South began. The main issue was slavery. Many southerners believed Lincoln would end slavery and play havoc on their economy. Southern States also believed they should not be dictated to by the federal government. Lincoln faced the greatest internal crisis confronted by any U.S. President. Despite enormous pressures, loss of life, battlefield setbacks, Lincoln stuck with this pro-Union policy for four long years of Civil War. At first, the war did not go well for the Union. The South won several major battles. But before long the tide began to turn. In 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, Congress passed the Homestead Act with Lincoln's support. It granted ownership of 160 acres (64 hectares) of land in the west to anyone who settled and farmed the land for five years. This act allowed the poor in the East to obtain land in the West. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. This was Lincoln's declaration of freedom for all slaves in the areas of the Confederacy not under Union control. Also, on November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, which dedicated the battlefield there to the soldiers who had perished. He called on the living to finish the task the dead soldiers had begun. In 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was named general-in-chief of the armies of the United States. The South was slowly being worn down. Lincoln was re-elected as President. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant. Two days later Lincoln addressed a crowd outside the White House. Among other things, he suggested he would support voting rights for certain blacks. This infuriated a racist and Southern sympathiser who was in the audience: the actor John Wilkes Booth. On Friday April 14, 1865 Lincoln and his wife, attended the play, Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the play, actor John Wilkes Booth entered Lincoln's State Box undetected and shot him in the back of the head. After shooting the President, Booth jumped out of the box onto the stage, broke his left leg and yelled something that some eyewitnesses reported as, "as always to tyrants". Lincoln was taken to the Petersen House across the street from Ford's Theatre where he eventually died at 7:22 a.m. April 15, 1865. Booth escaped the Capital and travelled to Maryland where he picked up supplies and then went to Dr. Samuel Mudd's house where his leg was set. On April 26, Booth was found hiding in a barn in Virginia. Booth refused to come out of the barn so it was set on fire. In the ensuing chaos, a soldier shot and killed Booth. Meanwhile, Lincoln's body was taken to Springfield by train, and he was buried in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865. Eight Lincoln conspirators were caught over the next few days and tried by a military court. They were found guilty on June 30 and given various sentences depending upon their involvement. Abraham Lincoln is remembered for his role as the leader in beginning the process that led to the end of slavery in the United States. He is also remembered for his character, his speeches and letters, and as a man of humble origins whose determination and perseverance led him to the nation's highest office. Lincoln's birthplace and family home are national historic memorials. A number of Institutes and carriers are named in his honour. Famous director Steven Spielberg is currently planning a movie on Abraham Lincoln with Liam Neeson in the leading role. |
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