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Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the most influential American Presidents in History. The country was undergoing a civil war during his presidency. He led the Northern portion of the country against the South to help preserve the Union of States. He championed for the end of slavery across the nation. He began his political career by serving the Illinois State Legislature while studying to be a lawyer. He eventually was elected to a term as a congressman. He ran for the U.S. senate, but did not win. During his campaign for the Senate he gained national fame for his stance against slavery. In 1860, he ran for President under the newly formed republican ticket. The republican agenda included a stance against slavery and not allowing southern states from ceding from the Union.

Immediately after Lincoln was elected President seven southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas) left the Union by creating the Confederate States of America. The main thought for parting ways was to continue slavery. A War between both factions sparked five months later costing 600,000 Americans their lives. The war took place over four years and ended in the country being held together in the end. The worksheets below examine all different aspects of the life of Abraham Lincoln.

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Lincoln Biography

At the same time as Lincoln began his career in politics, he studied law and became a lawyer. In 1845 he ran for the U.S. Congress and won, serving one term.

Biography Multiple Choice Questions

The Civil War began the following year. Its goal was to defeat the Confederacy so that the United States would remain a single country.

The Surrender of Robert E. Lee

The Civil War ended when the southern general, Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9th, 1865.

Surrender of Robert E. Lee- Short Answer Questions

At the time of the surrender, the Union Army had the Confederate soldiers surrounded at Appomattox. The Confederate Army was falling apart as they ran low on supplies and soldiers began deserting.

Emancipation Proclamation

It said that all those people held in slavery by the Confederate states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

QUESTIONS: Emancipation Proclamation

After the Union Army defeated the Confederates at Antietam in September, Lincoln felt that the major Union victory would give the order public support. A few days after Antietam, Lincoln announced his intention to issue the Proclamation that was officially released several months later.

Mary Todd Lincoln

They moved into the White House, which at that time was both dirty and in a state of disrepair. Mary dedicated herself to fixing it up.

QUESTIONS: Mary Todd Lincoln

Soon, the North and the South were at war. During this time, Mary stayed with her husband. She went with him when he visited the troops and acted as both his political advisor and as a volunteer nurse.

Succession

In February 1861, many southern U.S. states decided that they no longer wanted to be part of the United States. When these states left (seceded) from the Union, it was called Succession.

QUESTIONS: Succession

The southern states came together to form a new country that they called the Confederacy.

Monetary Policy Reading Passage

Although Congress was willing to approve Lincoln's request that the North assemble a 500,000-man army, there was disagreement over how the union would pay for the war.

QUESTIONS: Monetary Policy

When it turned out that the Union still didn't have enough money to pay for the war, Congress passed the Legal Tender Act in 1862, which authorized the government to mint $150 million in banknotes called greenbacks.

Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx

Karl Marx, who along with Friedrich Engels, published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, also saw similarities between slaves and wage workers.

QUESTIONS: Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx

Historians believe that it was his connections, both the support of former German revolutionaries who were active in the Republican party and the support of the Republican-leaning Tribune, that were responsible for his political success.

Foreign Policy

The primary goal of Lincoln's foreign policy was to keep European interests out of the Civil War. When the Civil War began, Russia was the only major foreign power that supported the Union cause.

Foreign Policy - Short Answer Questions

France and Britain saw the possibility of a divided Union as a way to either get rid of or seriously weaken a country that was increasingly challenging their power in the world.

Causes of the Civil War

The Civil War was the bloodiest and deadliest war that America has ever been involved in.

Causes of the Civil War- Questions

The South was completely dependent on slave labor to work their farms. Many people in the North objected to slavery on humanitarian and philosophical grounds.

The Assassination

He served one four-year term and a few weeks of a second term before he was assassinated on April 14th, 1865, while seated in the Presidential Box to see a play called Our American Cousin at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. with his wife and several guests. Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be assassinated.

The Assassination - Short Answer

John Wilkes Booth had been sympathetic to the Confederacy. With General Lee having surrendered to the Union at Appomattox, Virginia just days before, Booth believed that the South was going to lose the war.