Abraham lincoln log cabin tour full#
Abraham lincoln log cabin tour license#

Democrats allowed Lincoln's appointment probably because no local Democrat wanted the job, and, additionally, his determination to avoid partisan posturing made him acceptable to almost everyone in New Salem.

Democratic President Andrew Jackson appointed Lincoln postmaster of New Salem, even though Lincoln had supported National Republican candidate Henry Clay in the 1832 presidential election that reelected Jackson. Lincoln also participated in Whig political functions, serving as secretary in the party's meetings.ĭespite his political leanings, Abe attracted attention from leaders of the time.

Abraham lincoln log cabin tour license#

Thereafter, he refocused his energies on studying law on his own, arguing cases before the local justice of the peace even before passing the state bar exam in 1836, and getting his license in 1837. Although he won 277 of the 300 votes in New Salem, he lost in the county, coming in eighth in a field of thirteen. As a soldier, Lincoln saw no action in the war, but his tour of duty prevented him from campaigning for office.īack home in New Salem, Lincoln resumed his campaign for the legislature, but there was too little time left before the election for him to make himself known throughout the large district. In his last duty, he served as a private in the Independent Spy Corps, which unsuccessfully tried to track down Chief Black Hawk in southern Wisconsin. It was a thirty-day stint, and when it was up, Lincoln-having seen no military action-signed on for another twenty days, and then again for a third term of thirty days. His fellow volunteers elected him the temporary captain of their company, an honor that he valued more than his nomination for the presidency, and off they marched to war. A few weeks after throwing his hat in the ring, the Black Hawk War broke out, and Lincoln volunteered to fight Indians. He announced his candidacy for a seat in the Illinois state legislature, declaring himself as an independent candidate. Six months after his arrival in town, Abe let his ambitions get the best of him. He quickly became a popular member of the town, endearing himself to the locals as a good-natured and 'bookish' young man.

For the less literate citizens of New Salem, Abe's ability to read and write was invaluable. He delighted people with his wit, intelligence, and integrity. In small towns during that era, the general store was a meeting place, and thus Lincoln grew to know the community well. Soon thereafter, Lincoln started to make a name for himself, successfully wrestling the town bully and amazing most of his neighbors with his strength and ability to split rails and fell trees-a survival skill that he developed as a child of the American frontier. He arrived in New Salem and landed a job as a clerk in a general store.

Political AmbitionsĪs a young man, Lincoln stood out from the crowd, tall and lanky at six-feet four-inches. After that haul, he lived on his own, moving to the town of New Salem, Illinois in 1831. Following this move, Abe built a second flatboat and made another run down river, but this time as an independent operator. The father and son built another log cabin not much bigger than the one they had lived in before. When Abe was twenty-one, the family again moved, this time to Illinois just west of Decatur.

Abraham lincoln log cabin tour full#

Upon reaching home he dutifully, but resentfully, gave his full earnings to his father. Selling the boat for its timber, he then returned home. Enjoying the river, he built a flatboat two years later and ran a load of farm produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Poverty, farm chores, hard work, and reading by the light of the fireplace dominated young Abe's life until he was seventeen, when he found work on a ferryboat. Rural life was difficult in America's frontier during the early 1800s. A bright woman, she encouraged Abe's education, and took his side in the frequent arguments the young boy had with his father. Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston shortly after Nancy's death, and young Abe immediately bonded with his stepmother. Although Lincoln later said that he owed everything to her guidance, he seldom mentioned her in his conversation or writings. Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, died when Lincoln was only nine years old. Thomas built a crude 360-square foot log cabin where he lived with his wife, Abe, and elder daughter, Sarah. Himself born to impoverished parents, Thomas Lincoln was a farmer and carpenter who moved the family from rural Kentucky to frontier Indiana when young Abe was seven years old.

He was a stern man whom young Abe never liked very much. His father, Thomas Lincoln, could not read and could barely sign his name. Abraham Lincoln was born in humble surroundings, a one-room log cabin with dirt floors in Hardin County, Kentucky. The man who preserved the Union and issued the Emancipation Proclamation came into the world on February 12, 1809.