Abraham Lincoln (Civ5)/Civilopedia

===History===
Born in 1809 in a small cabin in central Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln rose from seemingly humble beginnings to become one of the greatest statesmen in American history. In his early 20s, Lincoln served in a number of small government roles before his election to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834. In 1836 he began practicing law, and it wasn't long before he established a reputation as a savvy lawyer willing to take on a wide variety of cases. During successive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives and later a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Lincoln became known for his views opposing the further spread of slavery in the United States, a key issue that became a hallmark of his political career.
===Election===
In 1860, Lincoln successfully campaigned to become the 16th President of the United States. It was during the now famous Lincoln-Douglas debates that the specter of southern secession was first raised, when Lincoln continually rebuked the notion of allowing slavery to spread into the western territories of the United States. The southern states, united in their continued support for slavery, were prepared to abandon the United States if Lincoln were to be elected.
===Fort Sumter===
Soon after Lincoln's victory the first seven states to secede, led by South Carolina, and soon followed by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, declared their sovereignty and formed the Confederate States of America in 1861. In naming Jefferson Davis as their president-elect, the southern states made good on their threat to secede, and it wasn't long before one of America's most devastating conflicts, the Civil War, began with a confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April of 1861.
===Emancipation Proclamation===
=Lincoln assumed command of the Union war effort as commander-in-chief, issuing unprecedented orders to imprison confederate sympathizers, blockade all confederate ports, and to seize and free any slave used in the confederate war effort. His most aggressive and noteworthy order, the Emancipation Proclamation, was signed on January 1st, 1863, and provided freedom to all slaves within the confederacy, although it did not grant them full citizenship within the United States.
===Gettysburg Address===
Months later, Lincoln gave what would become one of the most famous speeches in history, the Gettysburg Address. His renowned opening line - "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" - lives on today as one of the greatest reminders of Lincoln's mark on American history. 
===Judgement of History===
Following nearly five years of warfare, during which time over 500,000 Americans fought and died, the Civil War ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee in April of 1865. Just five days later, while attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C., Lincoln was assassinated by the Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Although Lincoln did not survive to see the eventual outcome of his efforts to reestablish the nation and abolish slavery, the legacy of his deeds has long since established his position among America's greatest presidents.