When Darwin was busy theorizing about natural selection, good old Abe was busy formulating the Emancipation Proclamation. It seems a marvelous coincidence that two of the historically most important people were born the same year, same month and same date.

February 12th we commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. But perhaps talking about good old Abe - christened `the great emancipator’ - is more appropriate with US’s first African American president now in power.

He had a rough childhood owing to debt, loss of his mother, Nancy Hanks, and an estranged father, Thomas Lincoln. At 6 foot 4 inches (1.93 m), he was unusually tall and strong.

He was a talented wrestler and skilled with the axe, but prevented from hunting at all cost because it was said that he detested killing animals even for food.

Although his education was limited to just 18 months, he was an avid reader and self-educated. It is believed that he got his captivating ability of eloquent speech through mimicking his father at a very young age.

By 1841 he had already entered politics and was a successful lawyer. He served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives as a representative from Sangamon County, and became a leader of the Illinois Whig party. In 1837 he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House.

In 1846 Lincoln was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Even as a freshman House member who didn’t have much say in what happened in congress, Lincoln was passionately anti war, clear through his stand on US’s war with Mexico at the time.

At the end of his term in the House, declining governorship in Oregon Territory, he tried to make a living with law.

It was during this time that he made one of the most pivotal speeches. On October 16, 1854, arguing the moral, political and economic unfeasibility of slavery, that he was to uphold for the rest of his life, Lincoln spoke to a crowd in Peoria, Illinois.

This marked his re-entry into public life. He was instrumental in forming the new Republican Party. At the Republican convention in 1856, Lincoln placed second in the contest to become the party’s candidate for Vice-President.

Accepting a Republican nomination for Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered yet another of his famous speeches: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand...’

Although he lost a seat in the senate, in the contest with Douglas, his speeches made him a political star. Lincoln was emerging as the intellectual leader of the Republican Party, and its best speaker.

Lincoln was chosen as the Republican candidate for the 1860 election, because of his moderate views on slavery. At the Illinois Republican State Convention, held in Decatur, Lincoln received his first endorsement to run for the presidency.

The American civil war broke out in 1861.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States and won in a landslide in the re-elections of 1864. He successfully put an end to slavery while leading the USA through a tough time of civil war. Unfortunately the end of the war also brought his death. He was assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

It was clear, that through reviewing his war efforts, that he possessed great political insight, considering the way he handled the factions of the Republican Party, bringing leaders, Ulysses S. Grant as generals, of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate.

Despite harsh criticism leveled at him for moving too slow in abolishing slavery, he rallied public opinion on the subject through rhetoric and speeches. His assassination was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history, turning him into a martyr for the ideal of national unity and human rights.

But in the light of what had recently happened in the oval office (the first US African American president coming into power) a whole new debate about good old Abe has emerged. President Obama glorifies Lincoln and some even liken him to Lincoln as a savior of the country.

Most said that Lincoln would have been overjoyed; however, some argue that he would have been appalled, quoting Lincoln “there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which ... will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality.’’

And some even argue that the Emancipation Proclamation was merely a political move and that it still did not give him any authority to free slaves in Confederate states.

Critics claim that Lincoln has publicly said in his debates with Douglas that restricting further spread of slavery into the western territories and new states would, in fact, reduce the possibility of race mixing. But Lincoln diehards say that this separation is better than deporting the blacks to their native land.

Whatever he was, we have to hand it to him, good old Abe sure did make his mark in history. - Sajitha

By 1841 he had already entered politics and was a successful lawyer. He served four successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives as a representative from Sangamon County, and became a leader of the Illinois Whig party.

In 1837 he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House. In 1846 Lincoln was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Even as a freshman House member who didn’t have much say in what happened in congress, Lincoln was passionately anti war, clear through his stand on US’s war with Mexico at the time. At the end of his term in the House, declining governorship in Oregon Territory, he tried to make a living with law.

It was during this time that he made one of the most pivotal speeches. On October 16, 1854, arguing the moral, political and economic unfeasibility of slavery, that he was to uphold for the rest of his life, Lincoln spoke to a crowd in Peoria, Illinois. This marked his re-entry into public life.

He was instrumental in forming the new Republican Party. At the Republican convention in 1856, Lincoln placed second in the contest to become the party’s candidate for Vice-President. Accepting a Republican nomination for Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered yet another of his famous speeches: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand...’

Although he lost a seat in the senate, in the contest with Douglas, his speeches made him a political star. Lincoln was emerging as the intellectual leader of the Republican Party, and its best speaker.

Lincoln was chosen as the Republican candidate for the 1860 election, because of his moderate views on slavery. At the Illinois Republican State Convention, held in Decatur, Lincoln received his first endorsement to run for the presidency.

The American civil war broke out in 1861.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States and won in a landslide in the re-elections of 1864. He successfully put an end to slavery while leading the USA through a tough time of civil war. Unfortunately the end of the war also brought his death. He was assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. His tenure in office was occupied primarily with the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

It was clear, that through reviewing his war efforts, that he possessed great political insight, considering the way he handled the factions of the Republican Party, bringing leaders, Ulysses S. Grant as generals, of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate.

Despite harsh criticism leveled at him for moving too slow in abolishing slavery, he rallied public opinion on the subject through rhetoric and speeches. His assassination was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history, turning him into a martyr for the ideal of national unity and human rights.

But in the light of what had recently happened in the oval office (the first US African American president coming into power) a whole new debate about good old Abe has emerged. President Obama glorifies Lincoln and some even liken him to Lincoln as a savior of the country.

Most said that Lincoln would have been overjoyed; however, some argue that he would have been appalled, quoting Lincoln “there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which ... will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality.’’

And some even argue that the Emancipation Proclamation was merely a political move and that it still did not give him any authority to free slaves in Confederate states.

Critics claim that Lincoln has publicly said in his debates with Douglas that restricting further spread of slavery into the western territories and new states would, in fact, reduce the possibility of race mixing. But Lincoln diehards say that this separation is better than deporting the blacks to their native land.

Whatever he was, we have to hand it to him, good old Abe sure did make his mark in history.

- Sajitha

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