The Emancipation Proclamation

During my third year in office I issued The Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. In it I stated that from then on all slaves in the states fighting to keep slavery were free. The problem with this is that the northern states were still allowed to have slavery because I had only said slaves in the rebelling countries were free. Even though the proclamation did not end slavery, it did touch the hearts of many of the U.S. citizens. After I issued the Emancipation Proclamation, more than 150,000 blacks joined to fight in the war in hopes to win freedom for all. For many, the document gave a moral reason to fight.

Matthew Ruston

My Death

On April 15,1860's. He was strongly against the elimination of slavery, and he hated the fact that I was tryin 1865, I attended a play called "Our American Cousin" at Ford Theater. I was there with my wife and two of my invited friends. They do not know much about the man who shot me, but I can only tell you as much as I know. His name was John Wilkes Booth, and he was a popular actor in the g to give African American people the right to vote. I found out later that apparently he was at my second inauguration (which was March 4, 1865). His fiancé was the daughter of John P Hale, who was at the time the soon to be United States Ambassador to Spain. There are documents that read he later stated "What an excellent chance I had, if I wished to kill the president on inauguration day!"

I was sitting in my state box on the balcony, when he came behind me in which he thought was the funniest line of the play, so the laughter would cover up the sound of the gunshot, and shot me in the back of the head. When Major Henry Rathbone jumped up to try to catch the man, the man pulled out a knife and slit his arm. He quickly recovered and tried to ran after him. But he jumped onto the stage from the balcony and shouted "Sic semper tyrannis !" which is latin for "thus always to tyrants." He ran out of the theater unharmed, except for hurting his foot in the process. But he jumped onto a horse he had put outside to get away fast. Nobody really knows what happened to him for sure, but we know that he's dead, and that justice was served. I was the first president to be assasinated.
Elayna M.

My Early Life

When I was a kid I grew up very poor in a log cabin on a farm. Everyday I had to work to help support my family. My grandfather had started the farm but was killed by Native Americans when making it so my dad had to grow up working very hard with no time for an education. Even though he had very little education, my father managed to become a skilled carpenter and bought three more farms before we had to move to Indiana because my family was against slavery. I too grew up with little education, however I still somehow knew how to read and write.

Indiana was a tough place to live because of many wild animals in the forest. I would have to work on the farm, cut down trees for wood, make fences, and help with any other work there was. In 1818 my mother died making it so that my father and I had to work even harder. Just the following year my father married another woman in Kentucky. Her name was Sarah Bush Johnston .In 1828 a friend and I started working a floatboat to bring people down the Mississippi to New Orleans so that we could make money. It was the same year that my sister died in childbirth. Two years later my family moved to New Salem, Illinois.

When I lived in New Salem I fought for two years in the Black Hawk War. That was the only time I was in the military. After being in the war I started doing many jobs including being a storekeeper. In 1832 I ran for the state legislator but failed. I continued to try and educate myself by reading many books. I even moved to Springfield to study more into law. In 1842 I got married to my wife Mary Todd. For the next few years I worked as a lawyer and had many cases. In 1846 I was elected into congress as a Whig. I continued working with the law for the next few years. In 1858 I ran for Senate but did not win the election. Only two years later I ran for president and won!

Matt Ruston

About Me

Hello, my name is Abraham Lincoln. I was born in Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. I was born in a log cabin in the woods. I grew up working on a farm my grandfather started in the forest. In 1816 I moved to Indiana because my family did not believe in slavery. My mom died two years later and almost the year after, my father married a new woman who was a very kind mother. In 1830 I moved to Illinois. In 1832 I ran for legislature in Illinois, but was unsuccessful. I became president on March 4, 1861 until April 15, 1865 where I was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. That gunshot killed me, but my legend lives on.