Lincoln’s Devotional

ABRAHAM LINCOLN (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through its Civil War and in doing so preserved the Union, paved the way to the abolition of slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

Born near Hodgenville, Kentucky, he was largely self-educated. In 1836, he qualified as a lawyer and went to work in a law practice in Springfield, Illinois. He sat in the state legislature from 1834-1842 and in 1846 was elected to Congress. In 1856, he joined the new Republican Party and in 1860 he was asked to run as their presidential candidate and made his opposition to slavery very clear.

Fighting broke out in April 1861 and in January 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control.

On 19 November 1863, Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of a cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, a decisive Union victory that had taken place earlier in the year. In 1864, Lincoln stood for re-election and won.

On 9 April 1865, the Confederate general Robert E Lee surrendered, effectively ending the war. Less than a week later, Lincoln was shot by Confederacy supporter, John Wilkes Booth, while attending a performance at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. and died the next morning, 15 April 1865.

CARL SANDBURG (January 6, 1878 - July 22, 1967) was an American poet, writer, and editor who won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, he was widely regarded as a major figure in contemporary literature, especially for volumes of his collected verse, including Chicago Poems (1916), Cornhuskers (1918), and Smoke and Steel (1920).