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“HAIL TO THE CHIEF” Run time: 35 seconds January 1, 1863 was the first day of a new era in American history. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This proclamation declared that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” In November of that same year, Abraham Lincoln presented one of the most well-known speeches ever presented by a President of the United States, The Gettysburg Address. His famous introduction to this historic speech “Four score and seven years ago” referred to the events of the American Revolution and invoked the principles of human equality established by the Declaration of Independence. President Lincoln redefined the Civil War as a “new birth of freedom” that would bring genuine equality to all American citizens.1 Abraham Lincoln is considered by historians and scholars one of the greatest Presidents of the United States. This man of integrity is remembered for his leadership, his speeches, his vital role in preserving the Union and beginning the process of abolishing slavery in the United States. From April of 1861 to April 1865, our nation was engaged in a Civil War that cost over 600,000 American lives. Despite the atrocities and very high death toll of the Civil War, there were positive outcomes, some of which are elaborated on this Web site. This Web site, created by Baxter Shipman, provides a brief historical insight to people, places and items associated with “Honest Abe.” “He believed in the great laws of truth, the right discharge of duty, his accountability to God, the ultimate triumph of the right, and the overthrow of wrong.” – Leonard Swett, close friend of Abraham Lincoln2 REFERENCES |
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