Abraham Linclon Statue

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The **Abraham Lincoln Statue** (refereed just as **Abraham Lincoln** in film *Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian*) is a colossal seated figure of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The character, as well as The Thinker, was voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the tetartagonist in *Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian*.

## History of the statue

The Abraham Lincoln Statue was sculpted by Daniel Chester French and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. It is situated in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C..

The statue is 22 feet tall, and made out of marble.

## Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from 1861 - 1865. He brought around the end of slavery and guided the U.S. through the Civil War. These accomplishments have earned Lincoln amongst America's greatest presidents.

He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky, on February 12, 1809. His family were poor farmers in serious poverty. Abe's mother died of an illness, and his father married one of their neighbors. She was a big influence on Abe and encouraged him to go to school.

Lincoln was the tallest president, at 6'4". He was pretty strong, too. Unlike many Lincoln impersonators, his voice was not deep and booming, but rather sharp and high. He once ran miles to give a woman 6 cents he overcharged her.

In 1837, he moved to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, and started a career as a lawyer. There he married Mary Todd, and with her had 4 sons: Tad, Robert Todd, Edward Baker, and Willie Wallace.

Lincoln's political career started in the Illinois State Legislature, where he served 4 terms, from 1838 - 1841. Then, in 1846, he was elected to the U.S. House Of Representatives, where he served one term. As a Congressman, he supported laws that would have banned slavery in any new territories acquired by the United States.

Lincoln thought that the Constitution protected slavery in states where it already existed. But he also believed the Founding Fathers did not want it to spread to new territories. He personally hoped that slavery would die out naturally as more and more free states were added to the country. But in 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which let new territories decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery.

In response, Lincoln gave a speech that outlined his moral, ethical, and economic arguments against slavery. Around the same time, he helped reform the new Republican Party, which had an anti-slavery platform. In 1858, he ran for the U.S. Senate against Illinois Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, a major supporter of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The 7 Lincoln-Douglas debates were the highlight of the campaign. Lincoln went toe-to-toe with the more well-known Douglas, challenging him on the topics of slavery. Lincoln lost the election, but his brilliant performance in the debates turned him into a major political star. The Republican Party picked him as its candidate for the 1860 presidential election -and this time, he defeated Douglas to win the presidency.

But there was no time to celebrate; before he took office, 7 southern states seceded, or left the union, because they opposed Lincoln's stance on slavery. 4 more followed before the year was out. These 11 states called themselves The Confederate States of America. Lincoln believed that secession was illegal, and he was willing to use force to preserve the union.

When Confederate troops fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina in 1861, the Civil War began. Throughout the war, Lincoln took an active role in military strategy, including the picking of top generals, including Ulysses S. Grant, who would later become the 18th President of the United States. And in 1862, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This freed all slaves in Confederate-controlled territories as of January 1, 1863, also opening the door for African-American soldiers to fight in the Union Army. Lincoln then worked on the passage of the 13th Amendment, which would permanently abolish slavery throughout the United States.

The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1863 was a major Union victory, and one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war. Months after the battle, during a ceremony for the fallen soldiers, Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in U.S. history: The Gettysburg Address. The Gettysburg Address lasted just over 2 minutes, but it transformed American political thought. Using simple but poetic language, Lincoln reminded his audience that the Declaration of Independence was America's founding document. The message was clear: even if the Constitution allowed states to make their own laws about slavery, the Declaration's promise of equality for everyone was more important.

In 1864, with Union victor in sight, Lincoln was re-elected in a landslide. He proposed a generous policy that would quickly put the bitterness of the war behind them - but some refused to let old grudges die.

An actor from Maryland, John Wilkes Booth, was furiously enraged with Lincoln for promising to grant rights to former slaves. On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, while the President and First Lady were attending a play at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C., Booth snuck into the President's box, and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln, being the first president to be assassinated, died from the wound at 7:22 a.m. the next morning, April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old. However, although Booth destroyed Lincoln, he could not destroy Lincoln's legacy. Over the course of his amazing life, Lincoln reunited a fractured nation.

## Appearances

### Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

The statue first appears in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, when Larry Daley and Amelia Earhart hide at the Lincoln Memorial from Kahmunrah's allies. He latter reappears towards the end of the film where he smashes through the Smithsonian Institution's window to stop the Horus Soldiers summoned by Kahmunrah.