The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln 1000123920

7/29/2019 The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln 1000123920

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LINCOLN ROOM

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISLIBRARY

MEMORIAL

the Class of 1901

founded byHARLAN HOYT HORNER

and

HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER


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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN


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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Wood engraving by Timothy Cole from an ambrotype taken

for Marcus L. Ward in Springfield, 111., May 20,

i860, two days after Lincoln's nom-nation

for President.


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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

if

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

New York

Francis D. Tandy Company


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Selected from " Complete Works of Abraham

Lincoln." Copyright, 1894, by John

G. Nicolay and John Hay

Copyright, 1905, by

FRANCIS D. TANDY


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i CONTENTSAutobiography, June, i860

.

Memorandum Givento

Hicks

s

Sketch Writtenfor

Fell

Speech at Springfield.

Lincoln's Writings

PAGE

3

3C

31

39

65


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A Short Autobiography,written in June, i860, atthe Request of a Friendto use in preparing a pop-LAR

Campaign Biographyin the Election of thatYear.

Abraham Lincoln was born

February 12, 1809, then inHardin, now in the more recent-yformed county of La Rue,

Kentucky. His father, Thomas,and grandfather, Abraham,were born in RockinghamCounty, Virginia, whither theirancestors had come from BerksCounty, Pennsylvania. His line-ge

has been traced no fartherback than this. The familywere originally Quakers, though


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in later times they have fallenaway

from the peculiar habitsof that people. The grand-ather,

Abraham, had fourbrothers

" Isaac, Jacob, John,and Thomas. So far as known,the descendants of Jacob andJohn are still in Virginia. Isaacwent to a place near where Vir-inia,

North Carolina, and Ten-esseejoin; and his descendants

are in that region. Thomascame to Kentucky, and aftermany years died there, whencehis descendants went to Mis-ouri.

Abraham, grandfather ofthe subject of this sketch, cameto Kentucky, and was killed byIndians about the year 1784.He left a widow, three sons, andtwo daughters. The eldest son,Mordecai, remained in Ken-ucky

till late in life, when heremoved to Hancock County,


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 5

Illinois, where soon after hedied, and where several of hisdescendants still remain. Thesecond son, Josiah, removed atan early day to a place on BlueRiver, now within HancockCounty, Indiana, but no recentinformation of him or his familyhas been obtained. The eldestsister, Mary, married RalphCrume, and some of her de-cendants

are now known to bein Breckinridge County, Ken-ucky.

The second sister,Nancy, married William Brum-field, and her family are notknown to have left Kentucky,but there is no recent informa-ion

from them. Thomas, theyoungest son, and father of thepresent subject, by the earlydeath of his father and verynarrow circumstances of hismother, even in childhood was


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY J

but died many years ago, leav-ngno child; also a brother,

younger than himself, who diedin infancy. Before leaving Ken-ucky,

he and his sister weresent, for short periods, to A BC schools, the first kept by Za-chariah Riney, and the second byCaleb Hazel.

At this time his father re-idedon Knob Creek, on the

road from Bardstown, Ken-ucky,to Nashville, Tennessee,

at a point three or three and ahalf miles south or southwest ofAtherton's Ferry, on the RollingFork. From this place he re-oved

to what is now SpencerCounty, Indiana, in the autumnof 1816, Abraham then being inhis eighth year. This removalwas partly on account of slavery,but chiefly on account of the dif-iculty

in land titles in Kentucky.


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He settled in an unbroken forest,and the clearing away of surpluswood was the great task ahead.Abraham, though very young,was large for his age, and hadan ax put into his hands at once;and from that till within histwenty-third year he was almostconstantly handling that mostuseful instrument

" less, ofcourse, in plowing and harvest-ng

seasons. At this place Abra-amtook an early start as a

hunter, which was never muchimproved afterwards. A fewdays before the completion of hiseighth year, in the absence of hisfather, a flock of wild turkeysapproached the new log cabin,and Abraham with a rifle-gun,standing inside, shot through acrack and killed one of them.He has never since pulled a trig-er

on any larger game. In the


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autumn of 1 8 1 8 his mother died ;and a year

afterwards his fathermarried Mrs. Sally Johnston,at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, awidow with three children ofher first marriage. She proveda good and kind mother to Abra-am,

and is still living in ColesCounty, Illinois. There wereno children of this second mar-iage.

His father's residencecontinued at the same place inIndiana till 1830. While hereAbraham went to A B C schoolsby littles, kept successively byAndrew Crawford, Swee-ey,

and Azel W. Dorsey. Hedoes not remember any other.The family of Mr. Dorsey nowresides in Schuyler County, Illi-ois.

Abraham now thinks thatthe aggregate of all his school-ng

did not amount to one year.He was never in a college or


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academy as a student, and neverinside of a college or acad-my

building till since he hada law license. What he hasin the way of education he haspicked up. After he was twenty-three and had separated fromhis father, he studied Eng-ish

grammar " imperfectly, ofcourse, but so as to speak andwrite as well as he now does.He studied and nearly masteredthe six books of Euclid since hewas a member of Congress. Heregrets his want of education,and does what he can to supplythe want. In his tenth year hewas kicked by a horse, and ap-arently

killed for a time.When he was nineteen, still re-iding

in Indiana, he made hisfirst trip upon a flatboat to NewOrleans. He was a hired handmerely, and he and a son of the


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY II

owner, without other assistance,made the trip. The nature ofpart of the " cargo-load," as itwas called, made it necessary forthem to linger and trade alongthe sugar-coast; and one nightthey were attacked by sevennegroes with intent to kill androb them. They were hurt somein the melee, but succeeded indriving the negroes from theboat, and then ucut cable,"" weighed anchor," and left.

March i, 1830, Abrahamhaving just completed his twen-y-first

year, his father andfamily, with the families of thetwo daughters and sons-in-lawof his stepmother, left the oldhomestead in Indiana and cameto Illinois. Their mode of con-eyance

was wagons drawn byox-teams, and Abraham droveone of the teams. They reached


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the county of Macon, andstopped there some time withinthe same month of March. Hisfather and family settled a newplace on the north side of theSangamon River, at the junctionof the timber-land and prairie,about ten miles westerly fromDecatur. Here they built a logcabin, into which they removed,and made sufficient of rails tofence ten acres of ground, fencedand broke the ground, and raiseda crop of sown corn upon it thesame year. These are, or aresupposed to be, the rails aboutwhich so much is being said justnow, though these are far frombeing the first or only rails evermade by Abraham.

The sons-in-law were tempo-arilysettled in other places in the

county. In the autumn all handswere greatly afflicted with ague


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and fever, to which they had notbeen used, and by which theywere greatly discouraged, somuch so that they determined onleaving the county. They re-ained,

however, through thesucceeding winter, which was thewinter of the very celebrated" deep snow " of Illinois. Dur-ng

that winter Abraham, to-etherwith his stepmother's son,

John D. Johnston, and JohnHanks, yet residing in MaconCounty, hired themselves toDenton Offutt to take a flatboatfrom Beardstown, Illinois, toNew Orleans ; and for that pur-ose

were to join him " Offutt "at Springfield, Illinois, so soonas the snow should go off. Whenit did go off, which was aboutthe first of March, 1831, thecounty was so flooded as to maketraveling by land impracticable;


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could turn him to account, hecontracted with him to act asclerk for him, on his return fromNew Orleans, in charge of astore and mill at New Salem,then in Sangamon, now in Me-ard

County. Hanks had notgone to New Orleans, but hav-ng

a family, and being likely tobe detained from home longerthan at first expected, hadturned back from St. Louis. Heis the same John Hanks who nowengineers the " rail enterprise 'at Decatur, and is a first cousinto Abraham's mother. Abra-am's

father, with his own fam-lyand others mentioned, had, in

pursuance of their intention, re-ovedfrom Macon to Coles

County. John D. Johnston, thestepmother's son, went to them,and Abraham stopped indefinite-y

and for the first time, as it


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were, by himself at New Salem,before mentioned. This was inJuly, 1 83 1. Here he rapidlymade acquaintances and friends.In less than a year Offutt's busi-ess

was failing had almostfailed

"when the Black Hawk

war of 1832 broke out. Abra-amjoined a volunteer com-any,and, to his own surprise,

was elected captain of it. Hesays he has not since had anysuccess in life which gave him somuch satisfaction. He went tothe campaign, served near threemonths, met the ordinary hard-hips

of such an expedition, butwas in no battle. He now owns,in Iowa, the land upon whichhis own warrants for the servicewere located. Returning fromthe campaign, and encouragedby his great popularity amonghis immediate neighbors, he the


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same year ran for the legisla-ure,and was beaten " his own

precinct, however, casting itsvotes 277 for and 7 against him"

and that, too, while he was anavowed Clay man, and the pre-inct

the autumn afterwards giv-nga majority of 1 15 to General

Jackson over Mr. Clay. Thiswas the only time Abraham wasever beaten on a direct vote ofthe people. He was now with-ut

means and out of business,but was anxious to remain withhis friends who had treated himwith so much generosity, espe-ially

as he had nothing else-hereto go to. He studied

what he should do " thought oflearning the blacksmith trade "thought of trying to study law "rather thought he could not suc-eed

at that without a bettereducation. Before long, strange-


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ly enough, a man offered to sell,and did sell, to Abraham andanother as poor as himself, anold stock of goods, upon credit.They opened as merchants; andhe

saysthat was the store. Of

course they did nothing but getdeeper and deeper in debt. Hewas appointed postmaster atNew Salem

"the office being too

insignificant to make his politicsan objection. The store winkedout. The surveyor of Sanga-on

offered to depute to Abra-amthat portion of his work

which was within his part of theCounty. He accepted, procureda compass and chain, studiedFlint and Gibson a little, andwent at it. This procuredbread, and kept soul and bodytogether. The election of 1834came, and he was then electedto the legislature by the highest


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vote cast for any candidate.Major John T. Stuart, then infull practice of the law, was alsoelected. During the canvass, ina private conversation he encour-ged

Abraham [to] study law.After the election he borrowedbooks of Stuart, took them homewith him, and went at it in goodearnest. He studied with no-ody.

He still mixed in thesurveying to pay board andclothing bills. When the legis-ature

met, the law-books weredropped, but were taken upagain at the end of the session.He was reelected in 1836, 1838,and 1840. In the autumn of1836 he obtained a law license,and on April 15, 1837, removedto Springfield, and commencedthe practice " his old friendStuart taking him into partner-hip.

March 3, 1837, by a pro-


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test entered upon the " IllinoisHouse Journal " of that date, atpages 817 and 818, Abraham,with Dan Stone, another repre-entative

of Sangamon, brieflydefined his position on the slav-ry

question; and so far as itgoes, it was then the same thatit is now. The protest is asfollows :

" Resolutions upon the subjectof domestic slavery havingpassed both branches of the Gen-ral

Assembly at its present ses-ion,the undersigned hereby

protest against the passage ofthe same.

" They believe that the insti-utionof slavery is founded on

both injusticeand bad policy, butthat the promulgation of Aboli-ion

doctrines tends rather to in-reasethan abate its evils.


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" They believe that the Con-ressof the United States has no

power under the Constitution tointerfere with the institution ofslavery in the different States.

" They believe that the Con-ressof the United States has the

power, under the Constitution,to abolish slavery in the Dis-rict

of Columbia, but that thepower ought not to be exercisedunless at the request of the peo-le

of the District." The difference between these

opinions and those contained inthe above resolutions is theirreason for entering this protest.

" Dan Stone," A. Lincoln,

" Representatives from theCounty of Sangamon."

In 1838 and 1840, Mr. Lin-oln'sparty voted for him as


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gress, but the American armywas still in Mexico, and thetreaty of peace was not fully andformally ratified till the Juneafterwards. Much has been saidof his course in Congress in re-ard

to this war. A careful ex-minationof the " Journal " and

" Congressional Globe " showsthat he voted for all the supplymeasures that came up, and forall the measures in any way fa-orable

to the officers, soldiers,and their families, who con-ucted

the war through : with theexception that some of thesemeasures passed without yeasand nays, leaving no record asto how particular men voted.The " Journal " and " Globe "also show him voting that thewar was unnecessarily and un-onstitutionally

begun by thePresident of the United States.


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This is the language of Mr.Ashmun's amendment, for whichMr. Lincoln and nearly or quiteall other Whigs of the House ofRepresentatives voted.

Mr. Lincoln's reasons for theopinion expressed by this votewere briefly that the Presidenthad sent General Taylor into aninhabited part of the countrybelonging to Mexico, and not tothe United States, and therebyhad provoked the first act ofhostility,in fact the commence-ent

of the war; that the place,being the country bordering onthe east bank of the Rio Grande,was inhabited by native Mexi-ans

born there under the Mexi-anGovernment, and had never

submitted to, nor been con-ueredby, Texas or the United

States, nor transferred to eitherby treaty; that although Texas


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claimed the Rio Grande as herboundary, Mexico had never rec-gnized

it, and neither Texasnor the United States had everenforced it; that there was abroad desert between that andthe country over which Texashad actual control; that the coun-ry

where hostilities commenced,having once belonged to Mexico,,must remain so until it wassomehow legally transferred,which had never been done.

Mr. Lincoln thought the actof sending an armed forceamong the Mexicans was unnec-ssary,

inasmuch as Mexico wasin no way molesting or menacingthe United States or the peoplethereof; and that it was uncon-titutional,

because the power oflevying war is vested in Con-ress,

and not in the President.He thought the principal motive


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for the act was to divert publicattention from the surrender of" Fifty-four, forty, or fight " toGreat Britain, on the Oregonboundary question.

Mr. Lincoln was not a can-idatefor reelection. This was

determined upon and declaredbefore he went to Washington,in accordance with an under-tanding

among Whig friends,by which Colonel Hardin andColonel Baker had each pre-iously

served a single term inthis same district.

In 1848, during his term inCongress, he advocated GeneralTaylor's nomination for thepresidency, in opposition to allothers, and also took, an activepart for his election after hisnomination, speaking a fewtimes in Maryland, near Wash-ngton,

several times in Massa-


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chusetts, and canvassing quitefully his own district in Illinois,which was followed by a major-ty

in the district of over fifteenhundred for General Taylor.

Upon his return from Con-resshe went to the practice of

the law with greater earnestnessthan ever before. In 1852 hewas upon the Scott electoral tic-et,

and did something in theway of canvassing, but owing tothe hopelessness of the cause inIllinois he did less than in pre-ious

presidential canvasses.In 1854 his profession had al-ost

superseded the thought ofpolitics in his mind, when therepeal of the Missouri Com-romise

aroused him as he hadnever been before.

In the autumn of that year hetook the stump with no broaderpractical aim or object than to


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secure, if possible, the reelectionof Hon. Richard Yates to Con-ress.

His speeches at once at-racteda more marked attention

than thev had ever before done.As the canvass proceeded he wasdrawn to different parts of theState outside of Mr. Yates's dis-rict.

He did not abandon thelaw, but gave his attention byturns to that and politics. TheState agricultural fair was atSpringfield that year, and Doug-as

was announced to speakthere.

In the canvass of 1856 Mr.Lincoln made over fiftyspeeches,no one of which, so far as heremembers, was put in print.One of them was made at Ga-ena,

but Mr. Lincoln has no rec-llectionof any part of it being

printed; nor does he rememberwhether in that speech he said


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anything about a Supreme Courtdecision. He may have spokenupon that subject, and some ofthe newspapers may have re-orted

him as saying what isnow ascribed to him; but hethinks he could not have ex-ressed

himself as represented.


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The " House DividedAgainst Itself " Speech,1at Springfield, June 16,1858.

Mr. President and Gentlemenof the Convention: If we couldfirst know where we are, andwhither we are tending, we couldbetter judge what to do, and howto do it. We are now far intothe fifth year since a policy wasinitiated with the avowed objectand confident promise of puttingan end to slavery agitation.Under the operation of that pol-

1 The above speech was delivered at Springfield,111.

,at the close of the Republican State Conven-ionheld at that time and place, and by which Con-ention

Mr. Lincoln had been named as their can-idatefor United States Senator. Mr. Douglas

was not present.39


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Have we no tendency to thelatter condition?

Let anyone who doubts care-ullycontemplate that now al-ostcomplete legal combina-ion

" piece of machinery, so tospeak " compounded of the Ne-raska

doctrine and the DredScott decision. Let him con-ider,

not only what work themachinery is adapted to do, andhow well adapted; but also lethim study the history of its con-truction,

and trace if he can, orrather fail, if he can, to tracethe evidences of design and con-ert

of action among its chiefarchitects from the beginning.

The new year of 1854 foundslavery excluded from more thanhalf the States by State consti-utions,

and from most of thenational territory by congres-ional

prohibition. Four days


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one man choose to enslaveanother, no third man shall beallowed to object. That argu-ent

was incorporated into theNebraska bill itself, in the lan-uage

which follows :

( " It being the true intent and meaningof this Act not to legislateslavery into anyTerritory or State, nor to exclude it there-rom,

but to leave the people thereof per-ectlyfree to form and regulate their

domestic institutions in their own way, sub-ectonly to the Constitution of the United

States."

Then opened the roar of loosedeclamation in favor of " squat-er

sovereignty," and " sacredright of self-government."" But," said opposition mem-ers,

" let us amend the bill soas to expressly declare that thepeople of the Territory mayexclude slavery." " Not we,"said the friends of the measure,


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and down they voted the amend-ent.

While the Nebraska bill waspassing through Congress, a lawcase, involving the question of anegro's freedom, by reason ofhis owner having voluntarilytaken him first into a free State,and then into a Territory cov-red

by the congressional pro-ibition,and held him as a slave

for a long time in each, was pass-ngthrough the United States

Circuit Court for the District ofMissouri; and both Nebraskabill and lawsuit were brought toa decision in the same month ofMay, 1854. The negro's namewas " Dred Scott," which namenow designates the decisionfinallymade in the case. Beforethe then next Presidential elec-ion,

the law case came to, andwas argued in, the Supreme


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Court of the United States; butthe decision of it was deferreduntil after the election. Still,before the election, SenatorTrumbull, on the floor of theSenate, requested the leading ad-ocate

of the Nebraska bill tostate his opinion whether thepeople of a Territory can con-titutionally

exclude slaveryfrom their limits; and the latteranswered: "That is a questionfor the Supreme Court."

The election came. Mr.Buchanan was elected, and theindorsement, such as it was, se-ured.

That was the secondpoint gained. The indorse-ent,

however, fell short of aclear popular majority by nearlyfour hundred thousand votes,and so, perhaps, was not over-helmingly

reliable and satisfac-ory.The outgoing President,


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man letter to indorse andstrongly construe that decision,and to express his astonishmentthat any different view had everbeen entertained !

At length a squabble springsup between the President andthe author of the Nebraska billon the mere question of fact,whether the Lecompton consti-ution

was or was not in any justsense made by the people of Kan-as;

and in that quarrel the lat-erdeclares that all he wants is

a fair vote for the people, andthat he cares not whether slaverybe voted down or voted np. Ido not understand his declara-ion,

that he cares not whetherslavery be voted down or votedup, to be intended by him otherthan as an apt definition of thepolicy he would impress uponthe public mind " the principle


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upon which he and the Repub-icanshave never differed.

The several points of the DredScott decision, in connectionwith Senator Douglas's " care-not " policy, constitute the pieceof machinery, in its present stateof advancement. This was thethird point gained. The work-ng

points of that machineryare:

First, That no negro slave,imported as such from Africa,and no descendant of such slave,can ever be a citizen of any State,in the sense of that term as usedin the Constitution of the UnitedStates. This point is made inorder to deprive the negro, inevery possible event, of the bene-it

of that provision of theUnited States Constitutionwhich declares that " The citi-ens

of each State shall be en-


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titled to all the privileges andimmunities of citizens in theseveral States."

Secondly, That, " subject tothe Constitution of the UnitedStates," neither Congress nor aTerritorial Legislature can ex-lude

slavery from any UnitedStates Territory. This point ismade in order that individualmen may fill up the Territorieswith slaves, without danger oflosing them as property, andthus enhance the chances ofpermanency to the institutionthrough all the future.

Thirdly, That whether theholding a negro in actual slaveryin a free State, makes him free,as against the holder, the UnitedStates courts will not decide, butwill leave to be decided by thecourts of any slave State thenegro may be forced into by the


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master. This point is made,not to be pressed immediately;but, if acquiesced in for a while,and apparently indorsed by thepeople at an election, then to sus-ain

the logical conclusion thatwhat Dred Scott's master mightlawfully do with Dred Scott inthe free State of Illinois, everyother master might lawfully dowith any other one, or one thou-and

slaves, in Illinois, or in anyother free State.

Auxiliary to all this, andworking hand-in-hand with it,the Nebraska doctrine, or whatis left of it, is to educate andmold public opinion, at leastNorthern public opinion, not tocare whether slavery is voteddown or voted up. This showsexactly where we now are; andpartially, also, whither we aretending.


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court decision held up? Why-even a senator's individual opin-on

withheld till after the presi-entialelection ? Plainly enough

now, the speaking out thenwould have damaged the " per-ectly

free " argument uponwhich the election was to be car-ied.

Why the outgoing Presi-ent'sfelicitation on the indorse-ent?

Why the delay of a re-argument? Why the incomingPresident's advance exhortationin favor of the decision? Thesethings look like the cautious pat-ing

and petting of a spiritedhorse preparatory to mountinghim, when it is dreaded that hemay give the rider a fall. Andwhy the hasty after-indorsementof the decision by the Presidentand others?

We cannot absolutely knowthat all these exact adaptations


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$6 ABRAHAM LINCOLNsame? While the opinion ofthe court by Chief JusticeTaney, in the Dred Scott case,and the separate opinions of allconcurring judges, expressly de-lare

that the Constitution of theUnited States neither permitsCongress nor a territorial Leg-slature

to exclude slavery fromany United States Territory,they all omit to declare whetheror not the same Constitution per-its

a State, or the people of aState, to exclude it. Possibly,this is a mere omission; but whocan be quite sure, if McLean orCurtis had sought to get into theopinion a declaration of unlim-ted

power in the people of aState to exclude slavery fromtheir limits, just as Chase andMace sought to get such decla-ation,

in behalf of the people ofa Territory, into the Nebraska


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with us on a single point, uponwhich he and

wehave

neverdif-ered.

They remind us that heis a great man, and that the larg-st

of us are very small ones.Let this be granted. But " aliving dog is better than a deadlion." Judge Douglas, if not adead lion, for this work is atleast a caged and toothless one.How can he oppose the advancesof slavery? He don't care any-hing

about it. His avowedmission is impressing the " pub-ic

heart " to care nothing aboutit. A leading Douglas Demo-ratic

newspaper thinks Doug-as'ssuperior talent will be

needed to resist the revival ofthe African slave-trade. DoesDouglas believe an effort to re-ive

that trade is approaching?He has not said so. Does hereally think so? But if it is,


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how can he resist it? For yearshe has labored to prove it a sa-redright of white men to takenegro slaves into the new Ter-itories.

Can he possibly showthat it is less a sacred right tobuy them where they can bebought cheapest? And unques-ionably

they can be boughtcheaper in Africa than in Vir-inia.

He has done all in hispower to reduce the whole ques-ion

of slavery to one of a mereright of property; and, as such,how can he oppose the foreignslave-trade? How can he re-use

that trade in that " prop-rty" shall be " perfectly free/'

unless he does it as a protectionto the home production? Andas the home producers will prob-bly

not ask the protection, hewill be wholly without a groundof opposition.


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WRITINGS 67

officers, and facsimilesof his

more celebrated letters and docu-ents.In short, nothing has

been omitted which could in anyway add to its value from a lit-rary

or mechanical standpoint.The aim has been to present

this definitive edition of Lin-oln's

writings in a style that willmake it a fitting monument toits illustrious author and scarcelyless illustrious editors.

Francis D. Tandy Company,38 E. 2 1st St., New York.


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Date post:	14-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
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The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln 1000123920

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