Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana in 1816 and again to Macon County, Illinois in 1830. Lincoln settled in New Salem, Illinois in 1831, where he worked as a storekeeper (in partnership with William F. Berry) in addition to serving as deputy county surveyor, postmaster, and odd jobber. He also served as a Captain in the Black Hawk War (1832) and studied law in his free time. Lincoln was licensed as an attorney in 1836 and was admitted to the Bar in 1837. In the same year, he moved to Springfield, Illinois where he practiced law with John T. Stuart and later with Stephen T. Logan and William H. Herndon. Lincoln married Mary Ann Todd (1818-1882) on November 4, 1842 and the couple had four children: Robert Todd (1843-1926), Edward Baker Eddie (1846-1850), William Wallace Willie (1850-1862), and Thomas Tad (1853-1871).

In 1847, Lincoln was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. He served until his term expired in 1849 and did not reenter political life until 1854 when he opposed many of Stephen A. Douglas' policies, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for Vice President (1856) and for a Senate seat (1858) before being elected President in 1860. Although he was not an abolitionist, he opposed slavery's extension into the territories and unsuccessfully advocated for a gradual emancipation of slaves. After Fort Sumter was fired on, Lincoln called for volunteers to preserve the Union, restored conscription, and suspended habeas corpus. He signed an act freeing the slaves of Washington, D.C. in April of 1862 and issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September of the same year. Lincoln also set down the beginnings of Reconstruction by pardoning Confederate officials who would swear allegiance to the Union and forming loyal Southern state governments. Although his general policy was one of reunion and forgiveness, abolition of slavery was required. John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865 while he was watching a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater. Lincoln was taken to a residence across the street, where he died the following day.