Abraham Lincoln

1809 – 1865

Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election without even being on the ballot in most Southern states. Many Southerners feared Lincoln would stop the spread…

• 1860 CE

  Lincoln Elected President

  Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election without even being on the ballot in most Southern states. Many Southerners feared Lincoln would stop the spread of slavery, so several states started planning to leave the Union.

• 1863 CE

  Emancipation Proclamation

  Lincoln frees slaves in rebel states.

• 1863 CE

  Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

  President Lincoln gave a short speech of only 272 words at the Gettysburg battlefield to honor the soldiers who died there. He reminded Americans that the country was founded on the idea that all people are created equal.

• 1865 CE

  Lincoln assassinated

  President killed by John Wilkes Booth.

• 1865 CE

  13th Amendment Ends Slavery

  The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution officially made slavery illegal everywhere in the United States. This amendment was passed just months after the Civil War ended, freeing about four million enslaved people.