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About the Abraham Lincoln Institute

The Lincoln Institute provides resources for scholars and groups involved in the study of the life of America's 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, and the impact he had on the preservation of the Union, the emancipation of black slaves, and the development of democratic principles. We also encourage the use of primary sources about Abraham Lincoln for use by students and scholars along with understanding of the contemporaries with whom Lincoln worked.

Visit The Lincoln Institute sites for specific information and resources on Abraham Lincoln's life including Abraham Lincoln's White House, Abraham Lincoln & Friends, Abraham Lincoln & New York, Abraham Lincoln & Freedom, as well as Abraham Lincoln's Classroom for teacher resources.

Abraham Lincoln In Depth

Abraham Lincoln In Depth

Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Finance

Abraham Lincoln & Freedom

Abraham Lincoln & Freedom

Reconstruction

Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner presented his ideas of "state suicide" in resolutions he presented to Congress in February 1862. According to biographer Moorfield Storey, Sumner said that "Congress must provide for the termination of slavery in fact througho...

Abraham Lincoln's White House

Abraham Lincoln's White House

Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868)

"The Great Commoner," Thaddeus Stevens was a Pennsylvania Congressman (Whig, Republican 1849-53, 1859-68) and Radical Republican who often pressed President Lincoln on war and emancipation policies. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee throughout the Civil W...
Abraham Lincoln:
The Impact on the War, Part A
Abraham Lincoln:
The proclamation, Part A
Abraham Lincoln:
New Years Day Reception

Abraham Lincoln & Friends

Abraham Lincoln & Friends

William Kellogg (1814-1872)

In January 1861, as a member of the House Committee of 33, Illinois Congressman William Kellogg sought President-elect Lincoln's help in achieving a compromise with secessionists. Lincoln rejected such a compromise. Kellogg had written President-elect Lincoln in...

Abraham Lincoln & New York

Abraham Lincoln & New York

Dean Richmond (1804-1866)

Dean Richmond "was one of those original men of great brain-power, force, and character, knowledge of men, and executive ability, of which that period had a number," wrote New York Republican Chauncey M. Depew, who followed Richmond into the railroad business. "Fr...

Lincoln's Contemporaries

Abraham Lincoln's Contemporaries

Abraham Lincoln and The Eighth Circuit

His friends believed Abraham Lincoln loved life on the Eighth Circuit. There was a simple camaraderie on the circuit that Mr. Lincoln enjoyed as he moved from town to town each spring and fall. "The vanity of human wishes, it appears to me, could in no case be, w...

Featured Article

by Lewis E. Lehrman

They were big men. George Washington was 6-foot-3. Abraham Lincoln was almost 6-4. Their ambitions were equally big -- first for themselves, and then for the nation they would lead.

As young men, both future presidents trained as surveyors at periods when Americans were preoccupied by the development of the frontier and the acquisition of land. Historian John Ferling wrote: "Starting around age fifteen, George learned surveying through self-help books, such as `The Young Man's Companion,' and it is probable that he was tutored by some of the surveyors employed by the Fairfaxes." In his search for self-improvement, 16-year-old Washington famously wrote out the rules for life and behavior from "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." That pursuit would continue the rest of his life.

Surveying helped define both men. In 1834 Abraham Lincoln was named as a deputy surveyor of Sangamon County in Illinois; George Washington had been appointed as Culpepper County surveyor in 1749. Ferling observed that, "surveying ... was a respectable and often lucrative occupation in Washington's Virginia, as the population was growing and new frontiers were opening steadily."

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A Project of
The Lehrman Institute
Lewis E. Lehrman, Founder
When using this research please
acknowledge The Lehrman Institute
and The Lincoln Institute.

Lincoln is Here!
Nationwide release -- November 16



Watch the Trailer

Learn More About the Characters in "Lincoln"

The Lincolns

Daniel Day Lewis
Sally Field
Gulliver McGrath
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Chase Edmunds
   

Lincoln at Peoria

Lincoln at Peoria
The Turning Point
by Lewis E. Lehrman
Lincoln at Peoria explains how Lincoln's speech at Peoria on October 16, 1854, was the turning point in the development of his antislavery campaign and his political career and thought.

DAILY ABRAHAM LINCOLN BLOG

May 25, 1863 Navy Secretary Gideon Welles writes in his diary: “Am anxious in relation to the South Atlantic Squadron and feel daily the necessity of selecting a new commander. Du Pont is determined Charleston shall not be captured by the Navy, and that the Navy shall not attempt it; thinks it dangerous for the […]...Read More
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Visit The Lincoln Institute Sites
Mr. Lincoln's White House Mr. Lincoln and Friends
Mr.Lincoln and New York Mr. Lincoln and Freedom
Abraham Lincoln's Classroom Mr. Lincoln and the Founders
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War