Abraham Lincoln Timeline

(1809 – 1865)

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the 16th President of the United States, leading the nation through the Civil War, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and championing the abolition of slavery before his assassination in 1865. More Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Early Life and Career

Abraham Lincoln born in Kentucky

Feb 12, 1809

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, growing up in a modest frontier family that would shape his humble character.

Lincoln family moves to Indiana

1816

The Lincoln family relocated to Spencer County, Indiana, partly due to land title issues in Kentucky and slavery's presence there. Young Abraham helped clear land, build a cabin, and received little formal schooling, educating himself largely through borrowed books.

Death of Lincoln's mother Nancy

Oct 5, 1818

Nancy Hanks Lincoln died of milk sickness when Abraham was nine years old, a devastating loss that deeply affected him. His father later remarried Sarah Bush Johnston, who became a loving stepmother and encouraged young Abraham's love of reading.

Image source: Nancy Lincoln

Lincoln family settles in Illinois

Mar 1830

The Lincolns moved to Macon County, Illinois, where Abraham helped his father build another farm before striking out on his own at age 22. He settled in New Salem, Illinois, working as a store clerk, postmaster, and surveyor.

Service in the Black Hawk War

Apr 1832 - Jul 1832

Lincoln enlisted as a volunteer in the Black Hawk War and was elected captain of his company, though he saw no combat. He often joked that his military service consisted of 'charges upon the wild onions' and mosquito battles.

Image source: Black Hawk War

Election to the Illinois General Assembly

Aug 4, 1834

Lincoln won election to the Illinois state legislature as a Whig, beginning four consecutive terms. During this period he studied law on his own and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1836.

Image source: Abraham Lincoln

Moves to Springfield and law partnership

Apr 1837

Lincoln moved to Springfield, the new state capital, and began practicing law with John Todd Stuart. He later formed a successful partnership with Stephen T. Logan and then William Herndon, becoming a respected lawyer riding the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

Image source: Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site

Marriage to Mary Todd

Nov 4, 1842

Lincoln married Mary Todd, a well-educated woman from a prominent Lexington, Kentucky family, after an on-and-off courtship. The couple had four sons: Robert, Edward, Willie, and Tad, though only Robert survived to adulthood.

Image source: Mary Todd Lincoln

Political Rise

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Nov 7, 1846

Lincoln won election to Congress as the only Whig from Illinois, serving one term from 1847 to 1849. He criticized President Polk's conduct of the Mexican-American War, which proved unpopular back home and led him not to seek reelection.

Return to private law practice

1849 - 1854

After leaving Congress, Lincoln devoted himself to his lucrative law practice in Springfield, representing railroads and other clients across Illinois. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 drew him back into politics.

Kansas-Nebraska Act passed

May 30, 1854

Senator Stephen Douglas's act allowed settlers in new territories to decide slavery by popular vote, repealing the Missouri Compromise. The act outraged Lincoln, who re-entered politics to oppose slavery's expansion, delivering powerful speeches against it.

Image source: Kansas–Nebraska Act

'House Divided' speech delivered

Jun 16, 1858

Accepting the Republican nomination for Senate, Lincoln famously declared that 'a house divided against itself cannot stand,' arguing the nation could not permanently endure half slave and half free. The speech defined the moral stakes of the sectional crisis.

Image source: Lincoln's House Divided Speech

Lincoln-Douglas debates

Aug 21, 1858 - Oct 15, 1858

Lincoln engaged Senator Stephen Douglas in seven legendary debates across Illinois during their Senate race. Though Douglas won reelection, the debates gave Lincoln national prominence and showcased his eloquent arguments against slavery's expansion.

Image source: Lincoln–Douglas debates

Cooper Union speech in New York City

Feb 27, 1860

Lincoln delivered a carefully researched address at Cooper Union arguing that the Founders had supported restricting slavery. The widely reprinted speech made him credible to eastern Republicans and boosted his presidential prospects.

Image source: Cooper Union speech

Republican presidential nomination

May 18, 1860

The Republican Convention in Chicago nominated Lincoln for president on the third ballot, choosing the moderate former one-term congressman over better-known rivals like William Seward and Salmon Chase. Hannibal Hamlin was named his running mate.

Image source: 1860 Republican National Convention

Elected 16th President of the United States

Nov 6, 1860

Lincoln defeated three opponents—Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell—winning about 40% of the popular vote but a decisive electoral majority without carrying a single Deep South state. Southern states viewed his victory as a threat to slavery.

Image source: 1860 United States presidential election

Elected 16th President of the United States

Civil War

South Carolina secedes from the Union

Dec 20, 1860

Following Lincoln's election, South Carolina declared its secession, followed within months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The seceding states formed the Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis in February 1861.

Image source: Secession in the United States

Attack on Fort Sumter begins Civil War

Apr 12, 1861 - Apr 13, 1861

Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor after Lincoln announced plans to resupply the garrison. The fort surrendered, and Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers, prompting Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas to join the Confederacy.

Image source: Battle of Fort Sumter

Battle of Antietam

Sep 17, 1862

Union forces under George McClellan halted Robert E. Lee's invasion of Maryland in the bloodiest single day of American history, with roughly 23,000 casualties. The strategic victory gave Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Image source: Battle of Antietam

Gettysburg Address delivered

Nov 19, 1863

At the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Lincoln delivered just ten sentences that redefined the Civil War as a test of whether government 'of the people, by the people, for the people' could endure. The brief speech became one of the most celebrated orations in American history.

Image source: Gettysburg Address

Ulysses S. Grant appointed general-in-chief

Mar 9, 1864

Lincoln elevated Ulysses S. Grant to command all Union armies after his victories at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Grant's relentless strategy of coordinated offensives, alongside William Tecumseh Sherman's march through Georgia, gradually ground down the Confederacy.

Image source: Ulysses S. Grant

Fall of Richmond

Apr 3, 1865

Union troops captured Richmond, the Confederate capital, forcing Jefferson Davis's government to flee. Lincoln visited the city the following day, walking its streets accompanied only by a small escort, greeted joyfully by formerly enslaved people.

Image source: Third Battle of Petersburg

Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox

Apr 9, 1865

General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending major combat in the Civil War. Lincoln celebrated the news and spoke publicly about reconstructing the South and extending rights to freedmen.

Image source: Battle of Appomattox Court House

Presidency

First Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Mar 4, 1861

Lincoln took the oath of office pledging to hold federal property and vowing he had no intention of ending slavery where it existed, appealing to 'the mystic chords of memory.' He warned that secession was legally impossible and urged reconciliation.

Image source: First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Death of son Willie Lincoln

Feb 20, 1862

Eleven-year-old Willie Lincoln died of typhoid fever at the White House, plunging the Lincolns into profound grief. Mary Todd never fully recovered, while Lincoln channeled his sorrow into reflections on suffering and mortality.

Image source: William Wallace Lincoln

Emancipation Proclamation issued

Jan 1, 1863

Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring freedom for enslaved people in Confederate-held territory, transforming the war into a struggle for freedom. It paved the way for African American enlistment in the Union Army and redefined the nation's purpose.

Image source: Emancipation Proclamation

Reelected president

Nov 8, 1864

Lincoln decisively defeated Democratic candidate George McClellan, winning 212 electoral votes amid wartime conditions and soldier voting. His reelection affirmed public support for pursuing the war to unconditional Union victory.

Image source: 1864 United States presidential election

Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Mar 4, 1865

Beginning his second term with the war nearly won, Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address, calling for 'malice toward none, with charity for all' and urging the nation to bind up its wounds. The address is considered among the greatest speeches in American history.

Image source: Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Assassination and Legacy

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Apr 14, 1865

While attending the play 'Our American Cousin' at Ford's Theatre, Lincoln was shot in the head by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. The same night, Booth's co-conspirator Lewis Powell attacked Secretary of State William Seward at his home.

Death of Abraham Lincoln

Apr 15, 1865

Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. in the Petersen House across from Ford's Theatre, having never regained consciousness. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton reportedly said, 'Now he belongs to the ages.' Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be assassinated.

Image source: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Funeral train travels to Springfield

Apr 21, 1865 - May 3, 1865

Lincoln's funeral train retraced his 1860 inaugural route in reverse, allowing millions of mourners to pay respects in cities including Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Indianapolis. His body was interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

Image source: Funeral train

Thirteenth Amendment ratified

Dec 6, 1865

Eight months after Lincoln's death, the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery throughout the United States was ratified, cementing the goal Lincoln had championed. The amendment fulfilled his vision of a nation without human bondage.

Image source: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Key Facts

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809.
He served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865.
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring freedom for slaves in Confederate states.
He delivered the famous Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, redefining the Civil War as a struggle for equality.
Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865, and died the next morning.

Source

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