Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865

A biography of Abraham Lincoln, from his birth in a Kentucky cabin to his funeral train: the frontier, New Salem, the law, his family, his return to politics over slavery, the debates with Douglas, the presidency and the Civil War, emancipation, and his death. **How to read it.** Chapter headings mark the stages of his life. Homes, offices, partnerships, campaigns, battles and the war are durations; everything else is a moment, tagged by thread (family, home, law, politics, office, speech, writing, slavery, war, work). Related moments are linked: a cause and what it led to. **Dates.** Local days; times of day are Washington’s, shown at a fixed UTC−5 (standard time zones came only in 1883). Where a date is approximate, its dating note says so. A sample timeline built from the cited sources (Wikipedia, The Lincoln Log, the Collected Works, the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the National Park Service); not a definitive history.

126 moments · 1809-01-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE – 1865-12-06T00:00:00-05:00 CE · by @athan · @athan

Moments

1. Kentucky and Indiana 1809-01-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
2. Born in Kentucky 1809-02-12T00:00:00-05:00 CE
3. Move to Knob Creek 1811-07-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
4. A brother, Thomas, dies in infancy 1812-07-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
5. Move to Indiana 1816-12-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
6. His mother dies 1818-10-05T00:00:00-05:00 CE
7. A stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston 1819-12-02T00:00:00-05:00 CE
8. His sister Sarah dies 1828-01-20T00:00:00-05:00 CE
9. Flatboat to New Orleans 1828-04-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
10. The family moves to Illinois 1830-03-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
11. Second flatboat trip 1831-05-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
12. New Salem 1831-07-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
13. Arrives in New Salem 1831-07-25T00:00:00-05:00 CE
14. First run for the legislature 1832-03-09T00:00:00-05:00 CE
15. Elected captain of volunteers 1832-04-21T00:00:00-05:00 CE
16. Loses his first election 1832-08-06T00:00:00-05:00 CE
17. A store with William Berry 1833-01-15T00:00:00-05:00 CE
18. Appointed postmaster 1833-05-07T00:00:00-05:00 CE
19. Deputy surveyor 1833-12-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
20. Elected to the Illinois House 1834-08-04T00:00:00-05:00 CE
21. Ann Rutledge dies 1835-08-25T00:00:00-05:00 CE
22. Re-elected with the Long Nine 1836-08-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
23. Licensed to practice law 1836-09-09T00:00:00-05:00 CE
24. The capital moves to Springfield 1837-02-28T00:00:00-05:00 CE
25. Lincoln–Stone protest 1837-03-03T00:00:00-05:00 CE
26. Springfield 1837-04-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
27. Moves to Springfield 1837-04-15T00:00:00-05:00 CE
28. Lyceum Address 1838-01-27T00:00:00-05:00 CE
29. Engagement to Mary Todd broken 1841-01-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
30. A duel called off 1842-09-22T00:00:00-05:00 CE
31. Marries Mary Todd 1842-11-04T00:00:00-05:00 CE
32. Robert is born 1843-08-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
33. The house at Eighth and Jackson 1844-05-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
34. Eddie is born 1846-03-10T00:00:00-05:00 CE
35. Congress and the law 1846-07-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
36. Elected to Congress 1846-08-03T00:00:00-05:00 CE
37. Spot Resolutions 1847-12-22T00:00:00-05:00 CE
38. Speech against the Mexican War 1848-01-12T00:00:00-05:00 CE
39. A plan to end slavery in Washington 1849-01-10T00:00:00-05:00 CE
40. Patent No. 6,469 1849-05-22T00:00:00-05:00 CE
41. Eddie dies 1850-02-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
42. Willie is born 1850-12-21T00:00:00-05:00 CE
43. His father dies 1851-01-17T00:00:00-05:00 CE
44. Eulogy on Henry Clay 1852-07-06T00:00:00-05:00 CE
45. Tad is born 1853-04-04T00:00:00-05:00 CE
46. Back into politics 1854-05-01T00:00:00-05:00 CE
47. Kansas–Nebraska Act 1854-05-30T00:00:00-05:00 CE
48. Peoria speech 1854-10-16T00:00:00-05:00 CE
49. Loses the Senate race 1855-02-08T00:00:00-05:00 CE
50. Joins the Republicans 1856-05-29T00:00:00-05:00 CE