ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln was an American Lawyer and Statesman until he became the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1864.

Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War. abolished slavery and succeeded in preserving the Union and modernized the United States.

Lincoln was born in poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised in Indiana and passed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 26th, 1863.  

In this proclamation, he emphasized that "All Slaves would be Free."

Despite the expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. and only applied to the States that seceded from the United States leaving slavery untouched in the legal border States which were under Northern control. Most important the freedom promised depended upon the Southern Victory. 

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery it captivated the imagination of many Americans who fundamentally hated slavery.