1.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
2.
Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln 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. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral, constitutional, in doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the frontier in Kentucky. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois, a Whig Party leader, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, tariffs, and railroads. Reentering politics in 1854, he became a leader in building the new Republican Party, in 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican Party presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. Though he gained little support in the slaveholding states of the South. Subsequently, on April 12,1861, a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union. Politically, Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully planned political patronage and his Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln initially concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war and his primary goal was to reunite the nation. He suspended habeas corpus, leading to the ex parte Merryman decision. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including his most successful general, Lincoln tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another, until finally Grant succeeded. As the war progressed, his moves toward ending slavery included the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. On April 14,1865, five days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launched a manhunt for Booth, and 12 days later on April 26, Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as among the greatest U. S. presidents. Abraham Lincoln was born February 12,1809, the child of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk to its namesake of Hingham, samuels grandson and great-grandson began the familys western migration, which passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincolns paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Captain Lincoln was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, the presidents father
3.
Andrew Johnson
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Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson became president as he was president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, the new president favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. His plans did not give protection to the slaves, and he came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress. The first American president to be impeached, he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote, Johnson was born in poverty in Raleigh, North Carolina. Apprenticed as a tailor, he worked in several towns before settling in Greeneville. He served as alderman and mayor there before being elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1835, after brief service in the Tennessee Senate, Johnson was elected to the federal House of Representatives in 1843, where he served five two-year terms. He became Governor of Tennessee for four years, and was elected by the legislature to the Senate in 1857, in his congressional service, he sought passage of the Homestead Bill, which was enacted soon after he left his Senate seat in 1862. As Southern slave states, including Tennessee, seceded to form the Confederate States of America and he was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat upon learning of his states secession. In 1862, Lincoln appointed him as governor of Tennessee after most of it had been retaken. When Johnson was sworn in as president in March 1865, he gave a rambling speech. Six weeks later, the assassination of Lincoln made him president, Johnson implemented his own form of Presidential Reconstruction – a series of proclamations directing the seceded states to hold conventions and elections to re-form their civil governments. Johnson vetoed their bills, and Congressional Republicans overrode him, setting a pattern for the remainder of his presidency, Johnson opposed the Fourteenth Amendment, which gave citizenship to former slaves. In 1866, Johnson went on a national tour promoting his executive policies. As the conflict between the branches of government grew, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, restricting Johnsons ability to fire Cabinet officials. When he persisted in trying to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, he was impeached by the House of Representatives, and narrowly avoided conviction in the Senate and removal from office. Returning to Tennessee after his presidency, Johnson sought political vindication, Johnson is regarded by many historians as one of the worst presidents in American history. While some admire his strict constitutionalism, his opposition to federally guaranteed rights for African Americans is widely criticized
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Early life and career of Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12,1809, in a one-room log cabin at Sinking Spring farm, south of Hodgenville, in Hardin County, Kentucky. After a land title dispute forced the family to leave, they relocated to Knob Creek farm, by 1814 Thomas Lincoln, Abrahams father, had lost most of his land in Kentucky in legal disputes over land titles. In 1816 Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, their daughter, Sarah, and seven-year-old Abraham moved to Indiana. Abraham spent his years, from the age of 7 to 21. As was common on the frontier, Lincoln received a formal education. However, Lincoln continued to learn on his own life experiences. In 1818, two years after their arrival in Indiana, nine-year-old Lincoln lost his mother, Nancy. Thomas returned to Kentucky the following year and married Sarah Bush Johnson, Abrahams new step-mother and her three children joined the Lincoln family in Indiana in 1819. A second tragedy befell the family in 1828, when Abrahams sister, Sarah, in 1830 twenty-one-year-old Abraham joined his extended family in a move to Illinois. After helping his father establish a farm in Macon County, Illinois, Lincoln worked as a boatman, store clerk, surveyor, militia soldier, and became a lawyer in Illinois. He was elected to the Illinois Legislature in 1834, and was reelected in 1836,1838,1840, in 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd, the couple had four sons. In addition to his law career, Lincoln continued his involvement in politics and he was elected president of the United States in 1860. Lincolns first known ancestor in America was Samuel Lincoln, who migrated from England to Hingham, Massachusetts, Samuels son, Mordecai, remained in Massachusetts, but Samuels grandson, who was also named Mordecai, began the familys western migration. John Lincoln, Samuels great-grandson, continued the westward journey, born in New Jersey, John moved to Pennsylvania, then brought his family to Virginia. Johns son, Captain Abraham Lincoln, who earned that rank for his service in the Virginia militia, was the future presidents paternal grandfather, born in Pennsylvania, he moved with his father and other family members to Virginias Shenandoah Valley around 1766. The family settled near Linville Creek, in Augusta County, now Rockingham County, Captain Lincoln bought the Virginia property from his father in 1773. Thomas Lincoln, the presidents father, was Captain Lincolns son. Thomas was born in Virginia and moved west to Jefferson County, Kentucky, with his father, mother, and siblings in the 1780s, in 1786, at the age of forty-two, Captain Abraham was killed in an Indian ambush while working his field in Kentucky
5.
Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln
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This is the electoral history of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln served one term in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois and he later served as the 16th President of the United States. S. When pro-Nebraska Democrats were unable to reelect Shields, they switched their allegiance to Matteson, Lincoln then withdrew and threw his support to Trumbull, so that an anti-Nebraska candidate would be assured victory. William Lewis Dayton,523 Abraham Lincoln,110 Nathaniel Prentice Banks,46 David Wilmot,43 Charles Sumner,35 Jacob Collamer,15 John Alsop King,9 Samuel C. Pomeroy,8 Thomas Ford,7 Henry Charles Carey,3 Cassius M. Clay,3 Joshua R. Giddings,2 Whitfield Johnson,2 Aaron Pennington,1 Henry Wilson,1 Wyatt Gauger,1 Note, At this time, U. S. This triggered an avalanche towards Lincoln with a count of 364 votes out of 466 cast. Source, Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996, the popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote. Source, Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996, the states in rebellion did not participate in the election of 1864. One Elector from Nevada did not vote Andrew Johnson had been a Democrat, the Republican Party called itself the National Union Party to accommodate the War Democrats in this election. Lincoln and Liberty, Lincolns 1860 campaign song Abraham Lincoln Reviews His Electoral Record Up to 1849, ALS Shapell Manuscript Foundation
6.
Cooper Union speech
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The Cooper Union speech or address, known at the time as the Cooper Institute speech, was delivered by Abraham Lincoln on February 27,1860, at Cooper Union, in New York City. Lincoln was not yet the Republican nominee for the presidency, as the convention was scheduled for May and it is considered one of his most important speeches. Some historians have argued that the speech was responsible for his victory in the election later that year. The journalist Robert J. McNamara wrote, Lincolns Cooper Union speech was one of his longest, and it is not one of his speeches with passages that are often quoted. Yet, due to the research and Lincolns forceful argument. Horace Greeleys New York Tribune hailed it as one of the most happiest and most convincing political arguments ever made in this City, no man ever made such an impression on his first appeal to a New-York audience. Lincolns speech has three parts, each building towards his conclusion. The first part concerns the founders and the positions they supported on the question of slavery in the territories. The second part is addressed to the voters of the states by clarifying the issues between Republicans and Democrats. The final section is addressed to Republicans, in the first section, in response to a statement by Illinois Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln asks rhetorically, What is the frame of government under which we live. He answers that it must be, The Constitution of the United States and you will rule or ruin in all events. This, we know by experience, is no easy task and we have been so trying to convince them from the very beginning of our organization, but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches we have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone and he ends by saying that Republicans, if they cannot end slavery where it exists, must fight through their votes to prevent its expansion. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in faith, let us, to the end. I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse, I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry, What was the understanding those fathers had of the question mentioned, such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our fathers who framed the original Constitution. I do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever our fathers did, to do so, would be to discard all the lights of current experience—to reject all progress—all improvement. This is all Republicans ask—all Republicans desire—in relation to slavery, let all the guarantees those fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly, maintained
7.
Abraham Lincoln's Farewell Address
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Abraham Lincolns Farewell Address was a speech made by president-elect Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois on February 11,1861 on his way to his inauguration in Washington, D. C. Several thousand citizens of Illinois gathered to see Lincoln depart, in response, Lincoln gave this brief, impromptu speech from his railroad car shortly before he departed, My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place and the kindness of these people, I owe everything, here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried, I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, with that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, to His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell. The speech moved members of his entourage so much that after the train started, because of the difficulty of doing so on a moving train, Lincoln asked his personal secretary, John Nicolay, to finish copying it down after a few sentences. A second version of the speech was published in a Springfield newspaper a few days later, united States presidential election,1860 Presidency of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln and religion Abraham Lincoln assassination Gettysburg Address Original manuscript from the Library of Congress
