Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln There were social, economic, and cultural influences on Abraham Lincoln which affected his or lifetime achievements. Abraham Lincoln has achieved more than any one man could ever hope to take credit for. One of his greatest accomplishments being the Emancipation Proclamation. “..the Union victory at Antietam gave him a position of strength from which to issue his own Emancipation Proclamation.” (Columbia University). The Emancipation Proclamation allowed all slaves within the Confederacy’s control to now be free. Not only had Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation, but he is also the creator of the Gettysburg Address. “The sorrows of war and its rigorous necessity afflicted him; he expressed both in one of …show more content…
“Born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin in backwoods Hardin co., Ky., he grew up on newly broken pioneer farms of the frontier.” (Columbia University). Lincoln’s family did not make the most money either. “His father, Thomas Lincoln, was a migratory carpenter and farmer, nearly always poverty-stricken.” (Columbia University). Abraham Lincoln never had the best of opportunities to make money in his early years. In fact, he never did well for himself in his early years, and his unluckiness certainly did not help him. “Returning to New Salem, Lincoln was a partner in a grocery store that failed, leaving him with a heavy burden of debt.” (Columbia University). However, he had always tried to find a job whenever he could get one. “After another visit to New Orleans, the young Lincoln settled in 1831 in the village of New Salem, Ill., not far from Springfield. There he began by working in a store and managing a mill.” (Columbia University). Not only did he always strive to find jobs, but he was a friendly face among the locals, and did various needs for the people of the town. “He became a surveyor for a time, was village postmaster, and did various odd jobs, including rail splitting.” (Columbia University). Since Lincoln had never had it easy, he was always striving to better himself and to make himself someone everyone can, and …show more content…
During the summer of 1818, disaster had struck the Lincoln family. “The family cows grazed on a toxic weed called white snakeroot, poisoning their milk. People who drank the milk sank into a coma and died. Nancy nursed her aunt and uncle when they fell ill, but she too came down with ‘milk sickness,’ and within a week, she was dead.” (E.B. Phillips 4). This event had cast a gloomy veil over Thomas Lincoln’s log cabin, and although Lincoln had never talked about the day he later wrote “In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and to the young it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares.” (E.B. Phillips 4-5). Through the sadness, Thomas Lincoln found a new wife in Kentucky, where they lived at Little Pigeon Creek. Sally Bush Johnston was her name, and she was a mother of two girls and a boy. “Sally brought energy and love into the little house, which was now home to eight people.” (E.B. Phillips 5). Not only had Sally encouraged Abraham to learn, but by just sharing three books with Abraham, she opened new vistas for him. These three books intrigued Abraham so much that he was determined to educate himself to become an intelligent

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