Abraham Lincoln assassinated in 1865

 

Abraham Lincoln, who passed away on 15 April 1865, aged 56, is regularly regarded as one of the great American presidents, Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, amid a crisis over slavery in the Union. Shortly after his election, seven Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States, beginning the American Civil War.

An incredibly astute politician, Lincoln outmanoeuvred several political enemies in his time. His oratory and writing appealed to the American people, particularly his Gettysburg Address, which became an iconic endorsement of democracy and republicanism.

As the war came to an end Lincoln made several moves to abolish slavery. In 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which made more than 3 million slaves free. In early 1865 he pushed Congress to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which permanently ended slavery. Shortly before the end of the conflict, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln as he watched a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln's actions preserved the Union and pulled the United States through its greatest political, military and moral crisis.