Outline of Abraham Lincoln

Updated on Dec 25, 2024

Edit

Comment

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Abraham Lincoln:

Abraham Lincoln – 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

Political philosophy of Abraham Lincoln

United States Declaration of Independence – while this document was instrumental in the founding of the United States, it was also a statement of human rights, most notably through the phrase that "all men are created equal". Abraham Lincoln made the document the centerpiece of his rhetoric (as in the Gettysburg Address of 1863), and his policies. He considered it to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.

Abraham Lincoln and slavery

Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln

Campaigning for Congress (1843)

Campaigning for Henry Clay (1844)

Campaigning for Congress (1846)

Republican National Convention, 1856

United States Senate election (Illinois), 1858 – Abraham Lincoln was the Republican Party candidate, and ran against incumbent Stephen Douglas of the Democratic Party. Stephen Douglas remained Senator, but the debates between the two propelled the popularity of Lincoln and acquired for him a national reputation, which helped him to be chosen as the Republican candidate for President in 1860.

Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858 – held publicly in 7 towns, they drew especially large numbers of people from neighboring states, as the issue of slavery was of monumental importance to citizens everywhere in the nation. The debates were covered in complete detail in newspapers across the country.

Republican National Convention, 1860

United States presidential election, 1860

1860 campaign song

Republican National Convention, 1864

National Union Party

United States presidential election, 1864

Offices held by Abraham Lincoln prior to his presidency

Illinois Legislature, 1834–1842

House of Representatives (1847–1849)

Presidency of Abraham Lincoln

Events during Abraham Lincoln's presidency

First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Perpetual Union

Lincoln Bible

Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Baltimore Plot

American Civil War

Origins of the American Civil War

Alexander Stephens' Cornerstone Speech

Confiscation Acts

President Lincoln's 75,000 Volunteers

Revenue Act of 1861

Origin of the Anaconda Plan

RMS Trent Affair

Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1863

Emancipation Proclamation

Separation of West Virginia from Virginia

Overland Campaign strategy – Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and President Abraham Lincoln devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions. This was the first time the Union armies would have a coordinated offensive strategy across a number of theaters.

Hampton Roads Conference

Evacuation and Capture of Richmond

Lincoln's presidential Reconstruction

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution – the amendment that abolished slavery

Dakota War of 1862

Department of the Northwest

Homestead Act of 1862

National Bank Act

Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation – in 1863, Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, and set it as the last Thursday in November. It has remained thus ever since.

Birchard Letter

Bixby letter

Formation of the National Academy of Sciences – the NAS was founded in 1863 by an Act of Congress, and signed into existence by President Lincoln.

United States Department of Agriculture#Formation and subsequent history

State of the Union Address, 1863

1864

Lincoln's performance as president, in general

Abraham Lincoln and slavery

Lincoln's other enactments

List of federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln

People pardoned or granted clemency by Abraham Lincoln

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln catafalque

Abraham Lincoln's notable speeches

Lyceum address (1838)

Peoria speech (1854)

"Lost Speech" (1856)

House Divided speech (1858)

Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858)

Cooper Union Address (1860)

Farewell Address (1861)

First inaugural address (1861)

Gettysburg Address (1863 event) – this speech was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. In his address, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the preservation of the Union sundered by the secession crisis, with "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens. Lincoln also redefined the Civil War as a struggle not just for the Union, but also for the principle of human equality.

Second inaugural address (1865)