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The Abraham Lincoln Song All Those Weird Lincoln Kennedy Coincidences The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln Explained Every U.S. President's Favorite U.S. President The Most Surprising Battle of the Civil War The American Presidential Election of 1860 The American Presidential Election of 1864 What if Abraham Lincoln Lost the Election of 1860? Why Abraham Lincoln is Not the Greatest President (Short) Was Abraham Lincoln a Communist? (Short) Can the President Throw You in Jail for No Reason? (Short) Abraham Lincoln took cocaine and ate mercury (Short) The Tallest and Shortest American Presidents (Short) And as promised, here is the script from my video: First of all, you’ve heard of Abraham Lincoln, haven’t you. He’s kind of a big deal. We’ve turned him into a freaking symbol. Yep, that’s him. (Mount Rushmore). We’ve slapped his name on a car brand, a tunnel, and a memorial the size of a small stadium. And that memorial is even on the back of your $5 bill and penny (RIP).I mean, without Lincoln there’s no Linkin Park. Even his nicknames are famous. Honest Abe. The Great Emancipator. The first president to grow a beard while in office, he wore a hat so tall it made him look like an architectural landmark. But uh…much more importantly, Abraham Lincoln was the dude who almost single-handedly saved the Union and ended slavery. If you ask not just historians but if you ask the average American to rank the greatest presidents, Lincoln usually sits right at the top, chillin' right there with George Washington. We basically treat him like a secular saint. But why? Why the bloody heck? I mean, he’s not MY favorite president. (gasp!) Also, I think Lincoln wasn’t exactly a saint. And y’all know this…history is messy. If you actually look at his ENTIRE life, from his dirt-poor upbringing to his controversial, rule-bending presidency…you find a man who was way more complicated, way more stressed out, and frankly, a lot more weird than your history textbook lets on. For example, did you know he was a licensed bartender? Or that he took medical pills made of actual mercury that probably gave him insane mood swings? Or that…despite freeing the slaves….he was pretty racist? In this video, let’s go through the entire life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, and try to figure out…why IS he often seen as the greatest American president in history? Why DOESN’T his poop seem to stink? And as I said long ago, WAYYYYY back at the beginning of this video, I’m here in Springfield to hang out where Lincoln used to hang out…to even try to literally trace his footsteps. Oh, and I even have a tour guide to help me out! Well, he’s a fellow American history teacher and video maker. Mr. Beat: If you don’t mind, could you introduce yourself Jared: "Hey I'm Jared Bruening from the YouTube channel THE DAILY BELLRINGER." Mr. Beat: And have YOU heard of Abraham Lincoln before I brought him up to you? Jared: Um….yeah Mr. Beat: I knew it -Frontier Life- Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a one-room log cabin in modern-day LaRue County, Kentucky. Yeah, that’s it. Well, no….that’s not it….that’s a reconstruction of it…but it probably would have looked like that. Anyway, Abraham’s parents, Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, were farmers. He had an older sister, Sarah, and a younger brother, Thomas Jr., who died as a baby.If you think your childhood was rough, Lincoln’s family was literally living on the edge of survival on the American frontier. There were no Starbucks around. When Abe was just seven years old, his family packed up and moved to the deep woods of Indiana, in part because Indiana was a free state and Kentucky was a slave state. Thomas Lincoln was a strict, harsh man. He didn't see much value in books or "edumacation," and he regularly put young Abe to work clearing fields and splitting rails. Yeah, there’s Abe splitting rails. Abe hated the physical labor, but he LOVED reading. He’d walk literally miles to borrow a book. Totally hooked on phonics. Later in life, he estimated that all of his formal schooling combined added up to less than one year. He was almost entirely self-taught. Tragedy hit him early and often. When he was nine, his beloved mom died of "milk sickness,” a surprisingly fairly common form of poisoning on the Midwestern frontier, and which happened when people drank milk from cows that ate the toxic white snakeroot plant. Around that same time, Abraham got kicked in the head by a horse, knocking him unconscious for several hours. A few years later, his older sister Sarah died during childbirth. Another time, he nearly chopped his thumb off with an axe. Some historians say all this trauma triggered a severe, lifelong depression^1. Back then, they called it "melancholy." Today, we’d recognize it as clinical depression. Lincoln struggled with it his entire adult life, often using humor as a defense mechanism to keep his dark thoughts at bay. Abe’s dad remarried to a woman named Sara Bush Johnston, a widow herself with three children of her own. Abraham would become close to her. In 1828, when Abe was 19, he took a flatboat trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. There, he saw the cruelty of slavery up close, and it really freaking affected him. In March 1830, fearing another milk silkness outbreak….told you was fairly common…the family moved again, this time to Illinois. By the time Lincoln was 21 years old, he was 6 foot 4 inches tall. At the time, the average height of an adult American man was five foot 8, so Lincoln often towered over everyone around him.^2 Also by the time he was an adult? He wasn’t get along very well with his dad. As soon as he turned 21, he basically said, "Alright, I'm out," and struck out on his own, leaving his father’s farm behind for good. -Started from the Bottom now we’re in Illinois- Before he was a politician, Lincoln was trying to find ANY way to make a buck that didn't involve….ya know…clearing forests. Let's look at his resume from his twenties….
And THIS is where he lived while he was in his twenties. New Salem, Illinois. Well, this is actually a RECREATION of New Salem, as the original village…it don’t exist no more. Imagine being so famous in history that they resurrect a village you lived in for six years because of you. Anyway, some big moments in Lincoln’s life happened when he was in New Salem. It was there, in 1832, where he signed up to serve in the Black Hawk War. He didn't see any actual combat, but he was elected captain of his volunteer militia unit, which gave him his first taste of leadership. He later joked that he "suffered a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes." It was in New Salem that Lincoln developed a reputation as one tough son of a gun after winning a wrestling match with the leader of a local gang called Clary’s Grove boys. But nah man….what he REALLY wanted to do was law and politics. In 1834, at age 25, he won a seat in the Illinois State Legislature as a member of the newly formed Whig Party. The Whigs loved infrastructure, big banks, and modernization…and Lincoln was a pretty big fan of the Whig leader, another dude from Kentucky, Henry Clay. While serving in the legislature, Lincoln decided to become a lawyer. I know, usually it’s the other way around. Lawyer first, then politician. Lincoln wasn’t like other boys. And of course, he didn't go to law school. He literally just bought a bunch of law books, memorized them, passed the bar exam in 1836, and moved to the new state capital of Springfield to open a practice. Oh crap, so I guess we need to go to Springfield now. Heck yeah. It was here in Springfield that he met Mary Todd. Mary came from a wealthy, aristocratic slave-holding family in Kentucky. Oh don’t worry- Mary never owned slaves herself and I’m pretty sure was against slavery.^3 Mary was brilliant, fiercely ambitious, and uhhh….a bit high-strung I would say. She was also 14 inches shorter than Lincoln. But they apparently fell in love. Lincoln and Mary had a stormy courtship. In fact, Lincoln actually got cold feet and broke off their engagement once, but they ultimately would get married on November 4, 1842. He was 33 at the time, she was 23. They’d eventually have four sons together….Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. Tragically, only one of them would live to adulthood, and that dude, Robert Todd Lincoln….would strangely be present at a BUNCH of tragic deaths of important people. Lincoln served four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. Yeah, in this building behind me. Ok, yeah sorry this is actually also a reconstruction. Lincoln was not afraid to attack other politicians. He famously very publicly criticized Illinois’s State Auditor and future U.S. Senator James Shields. Shields was so upset by it that he challenged Lincoln to a duel, and the two nearly actually did fight before making peace and eventually becoming friends. In January 1844, Lincoln bought the home you see behind me right now. (turning to look at it) It was the only home he ever owned. And finally, the house you see is the original one preserved. That’s what I’m talking about. You can tour it and everything. And we did. Obviously. Lincoln would buy it for $1500, and his family would live there for 17 years…right up until he moved to the White House. I like to think in an alternate timeline, Lincoln got to retire in this home, just chilling up there on the balcony drinking coffee every day reading a newspaper. Stop! I hate to have to interrupt like this, but we simply can’t make videos like this without help. Sometimes we, unfortunately, have to give corporations our data. We’ve been looking at buying a new car and yeah, had to give some car dealerships our information, and yeah, now they WON’T STOP CALLING US. But I hate to break it to you, every time you go online, giant corporations are also STEALING your personal data. And then data brokers are turning around and selling your personal data to ANYONE. Stuff like your address, your phone number, even your political beliefs and income level. But you wanna know one way I fight back. By using DeleteMe. DeleteMe proactively removes our home address, phone numbers, and family details from the internet. What I like about DeleteMe is that it sends you these personalized privacy reports showing what they found, where they found it, and what they DELETED. I’ve been using it for several years at this point and it’s done a really good job scrubbing my personal information from all kinds of messed up sites out there. Protect YOUR personal information and your family’s personal information with DeleteMe. And get 20% off DeleteMe consumer plans when you go to joindeleteme.com/mrbeat and use promo code MRBEAT at checkout (QR code on screen). That’s join delete me dot com/MRBEAT, code MRBEAT. (turning) Proceed! Originally it was a much smaller house. Lincoln expanded it to its current size in 1856 to accommodate his growing family. By this time, it was obvious Lincoln had higher ambitions, the federal government, baby. But he actually lost the first time he ran for the United States Congress. After failing to earn the Whig nomination for Illinois’s 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1844, two years later Lincoln finally made it to the big leagues, getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. But he quickly made enemies soon after taking office. Democratic President James K. Polk had just kicked off the Mexican-American War, claiming that Mexico had shed "American blood on American soil." Well, Lincoln thought Polk was totally full of crap. He believed Polk had intentionally provoked Mexico to grab land to expand slavery. And for the record, I think Lincoln was right about this. Lincoln introduced what became known as the "Spot Resolutions” nicknamed that because he demanded that President Polk point to the exact SPOT on the map where American blood was shed to prove the war was justified. Eh? Yeah, this did not go over well. The country was swept up in wartime patriotism, and Lincoln’s critics labeled him "Spotify Lincoln," as his preferred music streaming platform was Spotify. Oop, I think I read that wrong. Critics labeled him “Spotting Lincoln,” calling him a traitor. Realizing he had zero chance of getting re-elected, he didn't even bother running for re-election in 1848. He went back home to Springfield with his political career seemingly dead in the water. For the next five years, Lincoln focused on his law practice. He became one of the most successful lawyers in Illinois, representing everyone from poor farmers to massive railroad corporations. He rode the "judicial circuit," traveling from county seat to county seat on horseback. February 1, 1850 was the date of another tragedy. That’s the day the Lincolns lost Eddie. He likely died from tuberculosis. He was just three years old. -A House Divided- Lincoln probably would have stayed a wealthy corporate lawyer forever if it weren't for one man…. Stephen A. Douglas. (looking over) Oh yeah there he is. That’s what he looked like. Hello Stephen. Douglas was a powerful Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois, and in 1854, he pushed through the Kansas–Nebraska Act, a horrible law that I have brought up MANY times in my videos…but for those of you who don’t watch every video I release for some reason…The Kansas–Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened them for settlement, and allowed the new settlers to determine whether they would be admitted to the Union as a free state or slave state. What? Yeah, this predictably caused a mad rush of both proslavery and antislavery advocates to Kansas. And Lincoln HATED this law. He believed slavery was a moral wrong that was fundamentally at odds with the Declaration of Independence. While he still didn't believe the Constitution allowed the federal government to abolish slavery where it already existed, he felt it absolutely HAD to be contained so it would eventually die out. Well, the Kansas-Nebraska Act destroyed the Whig Party, and out of its ashes rose a brand-new, purely northern political group: the Republican Party. Lincoln joined up and quickly became its star in Illinois. And in 1858, Lincoln challenged Stephen A. Douglas for his U.S. Senate seat. They engaged in a series of seven legendary outdoor debates across Illinois. Massive crowds turned out to watch these two political titans go at it for hours. Douglas painted Lincoln as a radical "Black Republican" who wanted full racial equality….which was a massive political liability back then. And Lincoln, trying to appeal to a racist electorate while maintaining his moral ground, gave his famous "House Divided" speech, arguing: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." I mean, Lincoln was also probably racist himself I’d argue. Here’s another quote by Lincoln at one of those debates: “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” Oof. Just oofness Abraham. Whether he actually meant those words or not, his racist appeals wouldn’t be enough. While Lincoln actually won the popular vote in Illinois, due to gerrymandered legislative districts at the time, the state legislature chose Douglas for the Senate. Lincoln lost….but here’s a plot twist! By going toe-to-toe with the famous Stephen Douglas, Lincoln became a national celebrity. His debates were printed in newspapers all over the country. Just as the country was marching straight toward a civil war, more and more Americans were wanting this Lincoln fellow to run for president. In February 1860, a famous abolitionist named Henry Ward Beecher invited Lincoln to give a speech to his congregation in Brooklyn, New York. Well, so many people wanted to go that they had to change the location to a much bigger venue (Cooper Union). Uh-oh, looks like we got a rock star on our hands. Despite his popularity, Lincoln wasn’t the frontrunner when the Republican Party met up at its national convention in May of that year. That would be William Seward, the U.S. Senator from New York. But Seward had too much political baggage. Lincoln was viewed as a moderate, a family man from the West, and an outsider who could win crucial swing states. Oh he locked down the nomination alright. The Republicans chose Hannibal Hamlin, a Senator from Maine, as his running mate. The presidential election of 1860 was the most chaotic in American history. It’s the only presidential election to be a big cause and directly lead to the American Civil War, for crying out loud. In the months leading up to the election, most Southerners seemed to be terrified by the idea that Lincoln, if elected, would get rid of slavery. While Lincoln and the Republicans promised they did not want to ban slavery completely, many Southerners weren’t convinced, and swore if Lincoln won, then they were gone. As in secession. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, had completely fractured into Northern and Southern factions, while a fourth party, the Constitutional Union Party, also jumped into the race with the primary goal of keeping the country together. Now, I have a video about this election….as I do of EVERY election in presidential history…long story short….Because the Democrats split their votes, Lincoln won the presidency despite winning only 39.8% of the popular vote. He didn't win a single Southern state. In fact, ten Southern states didn't even put his name on the ballot! In retaliation, Lincoln grew a beard! No just kidding. He grew a beard after an 11-year old told him to. Seriously, an 11-year-old named Grace Bedell wrote him telling him he’d look better if he grew one. And when an 11-year old tells you to do something, you do it. Right Reegan? And sure enough, before Lincoln even took the oath of office, South Carolina seceded from the Union. On December 18, 1860, a U.S. Senator from Kentucky named John Crittenden desperately tried to keep the country together with a proposal to make it unconstitutional for future congresses to end slavery. Known as the “Crittenden Compromise,” to Lincoln and his fellow Republicans, this wasn’t a “compromise” at all. They rejected the proposal. By February 1861, six more states followed, forming an entirely new country called the Confederate States of America. When Lincoln arrived in Washington D.C. for his inauguration, he had to sneak into the city at night, in disguise, because of assassination plots against him. In his first inaugural speech, Lincoln referred to what he had said before. "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” But it was too late. The nation was already breaking apart before he even sat in the Oval Office. -A Surprisingly Controversial President- Lincoln’s Cabinet was kinda awesome. Lincoln chose his advisors carefully. He wanted the most competent people. He didn’t care if they had once been his political opponents. He didn’t care if they didn’t like each other. The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin famously described his Cabinet as a “team of rivals.” The aforementioned William Seward, who…remember… ran against Lincoln for president, became his Secretary of State. The Ohio Governor and U.S. Senator, Salmon Chase, who also ran against Lincoln for president, became his Secretary of the Treasury. Lincoln’s Attorney General? A former Congressman from Missouri named Edward Bates who…you guessed it…also ran against Lincoln for president. Lincoln would make five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne (I love saying his name), Samuel Freeman Miller, David Davis, Stephen Johnson Field, who was a DEMOCRAT mind you, and the aforementioned Salmon Chase. But Lincoln didn’t have much time to focus on his team because…. On April 12, 1861, just 39 days after Lincoln had become president, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter, a federal outpost in South Carolina. The American Civil War had officially begun. Lincoln immediately called for 75,000 volunteer troops to put down the rebellion. In response, four more Upper South states…including freaking Virginia….seceded and joined the Confederacy. Lincoln faced the biggest crisis any president has ever faced. Eleven states left the Union, and he had to prevent four more slave states, known as the “Border States,” also from seceding. He had to build up an army from scratch. And he had to deal with the fact that many in the North weren’t even sure they wanted to fight to end slavery…if they DID want to fight, they mostly just wanted to preserve the Union. Now, this is where we have to start talking about arguably the most controversial aspect of Lincoln’s presidency…his massive, unprecedented expansion of executive power. Because Congress was out of session during the opening months of the war, Lincoln basically ran the country via executive orders. Let's break down what he did, ok? First of all, he suspended Habeas Corpus…But let’s quickly review what habeas corpus is since (Noem clip) ya know….Habeas corpus means you can’t just throw someone in jail and forget about them. A person detained by the authorities has the right to appear before a judge to know WHY they are being locked up and be able to CHALLENGE their detention. Well Lincoln suspended this right, initially along the military line between Philadelphia and Washington, to keep Maryland from seceding. If Maryland seceded, Washington D.C. would be completely surrounded by enemy territory. Over the course of the war, over 14,000 citizens were arrested and jailed without a trial. And then, after Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled in a case called Ex parte Merryman that only Congress could suspend habeas corpus, Lincoln literally ignored the order. Not only that, Lincoln’s administration shut down or seized over 300 newspapers that published either “pro-Confederate” or anti-war sentiment. And finally, Lincoln straight up spent money without Congressional approval. He ordered the Treasury to advance millions of dollars to private citizens to buy war supplies, which yeah, explicitly went against Article One of the Constitution. Was he a tyrant? Well, Lincoln argued that these emergency, TEMPORARY, measures were absolutely necessary to preserve the government. He believed that if the Union died, the Constitution died with it. It was a classic "ends justify the means" argument. But it set a massive, permanent precedent for future presidents to maximize executive power during a national crisis. -The Great Emancipator- The first two years of the war were an absolute nightmare for Lincoln. The Union Army of the Potomac suffered defeat after defeat under overly cautious generals like George McClellan. Lincoln was plagued by insomnia, severe depression, and immense grief after his beloved 11-year-old son, Willie, died of typhoid fever in the White House on February 20, 1862. 11-years old (looking over at Reegan) Meanwhile, more reform-minded folks in his own party, known as “Radical Republicans,” were screaming at him to abolish slavery immediately. On the other side, Northern Democrats were screaming at him that this war was not worth it. Lincoln’s own views seemed a bit more complex. In an 1862 open letter to journalist Horace Greeley, he wrote: "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it... What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union." Lincoln spent much of the first two years of the war actually promoting the Back-to-Africa movement, a call for the descendants of African American enslaved people to be helped moving back to colonies in Africa if they so wished. He genuinely doubted that black and white Americans could live together peacefully after centuries of brutal enslavement. Many folks forget that Lincoln signed some important laws as president that would have impacts that lasted long after the war would end. Lincoln signed laws like the Pacific Railway Act, which led to the completion of the country’s first Transcontinental Railroad, the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, which gave federally-controlled public lands to states to sell and in return states could establish colleges, and most famously, The Homestead Act, which accelerated western expansion by letting any adult citizen…including freed slaves and women….claim 160 acres of free land as long as they lived on the land for five years to improve it. Very cool. (pause) But back to the war…. On September 17, 1862, the bloodiest day in American history, both Confederate and Union troops took heavy casualties at the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland. 22,726 soldiers on both sides either died, got wounded, or went missing that day in the battle. 22,726 people in one day. That’s an insane number. It was the first major campaign by Confederate troops into Union territory. While Commanding General of the United States Army George McClellan was able to push the Confederates out, the Union suffered heavier casualties in the battle. Plus, similar to previous battles, McClellan was overcautious and didn’t pursue Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces after they began to retreat. Lincoln and McClellan never had fully trusted each other, and McClellan would often :sing: talk trash about Lincoln behind his back. After the Republican Party suffered big losses in the 1862 midterm elections, Lincoln fired McClellan. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his most famous executive order. The Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in areas still in rebellion against the United States were free. Now, it didn’t immediately free ALL slaves, but it DID officially change the war from just being about preserving the Union to now being about ending slavery. The proclamation also prevented European powers like Britain and France from recognizing the Confederacy, because they couldn't politically justify intervening on the side of slavery. Boom snappity snap. Oh, and the proclamation also allowed African Americans to join the Union Army, and nearly 200,000 did, and they fought bravely. And they needed those soldiers- hardly any white Americans were wanting to fight. In fact, Congress passed the Enrollment Act, the first widespread conscription law in American history. AKA the “draft.” Many Americans resisted the draft. Those who could afford to buy substitutes did so. And so, like most wars in modern history, this war was mostly fought by poor people. In July 1863, the tide finally turned. The Union won two massive, decisive victories at around the exact same time: the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which split the Confederacy in half. The Battle of Gettysburg is probably the most famous battle in American history, and for good reason. It marked THE turning point of the American Civil War- after it the Union had win after win after win after win. Still, the three-day battle was the bloodiest in American history up to that point. More than 50,000 casualties on both sides. Due to these heavy losses, Lincoln decided to travel to the battle site in November to dedicate a new national cemetery. No one knew it at the time, but that’s where he’d give his most famous speech, and arguably the most famous speech in American history. His dedication speech was just 271 words long, lasting barely over two minutes, but boy did it have an impact. “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,” he began. Lincoln praised the soldiers, arguing that their sacrifice should elevate the country’s commitment to ensuring the Union win, famously saying that the soldiers ought not to die in vain….ending his speech saying “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Newspapers far and wide printed what became known as “The Gettysburg Address.” Indeed, it completely redefined the meaning of the war. Still, the war dragged on. By 1864, the war had dragged on for three brutal years. By that time, Lincoln had finally found his general in Ulysses S. Grant, a dude willing to fight a brutal, aggressive war of attrition in order to crush the rebellion. However, Grant’s campaigns in Virginia were resulting in staggering casualties, and the Northern public was growing deeply exhausted. And hey, it was a presidential election year! Lincoln decided to run for re-election, even though he had big doubts he could actually win. To the surprise of many, Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his running mate, a DEMOCRAT, in order to have broader appeal and promote national unity. The 1864 election was the only one in American history to feature a Republican and Democrat running together on the same ticket. (Looking over) That video has HALF the views as the 1860 election video, so I know for a FACT that many of you did not watch it. Shame on you! Oh, and guess who Lincoln’s main opponent was? Go on, Fred Armisen….no that’s wrong. His main opponent was his former top general, George McClellan, who ran as a peace candidate wanting to negotiate an end to the war with the Confederacy. At first, it did indeed seem like McClellan had the advantage in the election. But then, in September 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia, and began his famous, devastating "March to the Sea." This massive military breakthrough proved to Northern voters that the war was almost won. Lincoln actually ended up cruising to what some say was a landslide re-election victory, winning 55% of the popular vote and securing the support of Union soldiers who voted overwhelmingly for their Commander-in-Chief. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miTcKE5LJAc By the end of the year, Union forces were closing in on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Lincoln easily wins re-election, is about to win the war. We back on top, baby, what could go wrong? On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his Second Inaugural Address. Instead of celebrating his victory or demonizing the South, his speech was incredibly somber and forgiving. He noted that both sides "read the same Bible, and pray to the same God," and urged the nation to move forward… "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds..." Lincoln was already looking toward Reconstruction, or basically looking at how to rebuild the country without destroying the South's economy completely while ensuring freedom for the formerly enslaved population. Hey speaking of the enslaved population, Lincoln tirelessly worked behind the scenes convincing members of Congress to support the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which would make slavery illegal except as a punishment for a crime. By the end of the year the 13th Amendment became part of the Constitution. It was the first amendment to the Constitution in 61 years. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. The war was effectively over. Two days later, Lincoln gave a speech from the White House balcony regarding his Reconstruction plans, during which he publicly advocated for giving voting rights to literate Black men and those who had served in the military. Dang Lincoln, changing your mind like that. In the crowd that night was John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and fanatical Confederate sympathizer. Hearing Lincoln support Black suffrage, Booth furiously muttered, "That is the last speech he will ever make." On April 14, 1865….just five days after Appomattox and also Good Friday mind you….Lincoln and Mary went to see a comedy play called Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. During the third act, Booth slipped into the presidential box completely undetected and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Lincoln was carried across the street to a boarding house, where he remained unconscious through the night. He passed away at 7:22 AM the following morning, April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old. Upon his death, his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, famously remarked, "Now he belongs to the ages." It was the first time a president had been assassinated in American history…Lincoln was the first of four presidents assassinated. It’s actually one of the wildest stories ever told. I made a whole separate video about the Lincoln assassination that I kinda recommend 6 out of 10. The country was devastated. A controversial president when he was alive, his death turned him into a martyr. But I think that’s because we humans tend to not realize how great someone is until they're gone. -Why is Abraham Lincoln considered the greatest president?- Most presidential historians say that Abraham Lincoln is the greatest president in American history. And sure, I’ve had criticisms of the guy, and he may not be my favorite president, but you’d be foolish to deny his greatness as a leader. He would have been a strong leader even during stable times, but he was a strong leader during the country’s most chaotic time. He knew when to take a stand. He knew when to compromise and form coalitions. He knew when to change his mind. And he did all those things. Like, a lot. Lincoln was everything a president should be. Tall, dark, handsome. And other things. In my video about what makes a good president, I argue there are ten things that make a person a good president. A good president is honest, willing to listen, open to change, disciplined, decisive, pragmatic, empathetic, courageous, and really good at communicating. Well, Lincoln was all ten of those things. Honest? Well, his freaking nickname was Honest Abe. He listened to his advisors. He listened to his wife. Again, he changed his mind. Despite going through tremendous hardship both in his personal life and with the country as a whole during his presidency, Lincoln showed remarkable discipline. Unlike his predecessors, Lincoln was decidedly decisive. Oh he made decisions alright. Big ones. Lincoln was undoubtedly pragmatic, especially with his work. And if it wasn’t obvious enough by this point in the video, Lincoln had empathy and courage. And heck yeah he could talk. One of the best speakers in American history. As it turns out, I did find Abraham Lincoln. Actually, I found a lot of them…but I had to go back to Kansas to find them. And those Abraham Lincolns…they can sing, man. Anyway, I guess Lincoln is everywhere is what I’m trying to say. Historians tend to rank Lincoln as the greatest American president not because he was flawless, but because when history handed him an impossible situation, he figured it out. He didn’t just save the United States, he kinda rebooted it. He took a country that was living a lie….claiming all men are created equal while holding millions in chains….and forced it to begin the long, painful process of actually living up to its own ideals. It’s in our darkest moments that true leaders emerge, and Lincoln was the absolute right person at the absolute right time. We will almost certainly remember him in 1,000 years….it certainly helps that his face is carved into a mountain and that his memorial is the most epic memorials for an American ever. But it’s not enough to remember him. We ought to remember why he was so great. Which is why I recommend you watch this video. Oh you already did? Oh thanks buddy. That’s really cool of you. (walk off) Thanks to Jared from the Daily Bellringer for collaborating with me for this video. Everyone has to subscribe to his channel or they will face immediate punishment. Where can they find you? Jared: Check out Daily Bellringer on YouTube or go to my website www.dailybellringer.com And here are three of the books I used to research for this video. All really good freaking books. A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White Jr. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham As always, a full list of sources are in the description of this video. So tell me, Sabrina Carpenter. Was Lincoln our greatest president? Could anyone else have held the country together during that crisis? What about your grandmother? Let me know your thoughts by mailing me a hand-written letter. I’m not joking. The address is PO Box 1982 Lawrence, KS 66049.If you liked this deeper look at Lincoln’s presidency, give this video a thumbs up, subscribe, and check out my other presidential videos, for real. Hey thanks for staying curious bruh. _____________________________________________________ ^1. https://en.wikipeAdia.org/wiki/Health_of_Abraham_Lincoln ^2. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-04-18-highs-and-lows-englishman%E2%80%99s-average-height-over-2000-years-0 ^3. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/mary-todd-lincoln Sources/further reading: And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4uZmGlP Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin Purchase here: https://amzn.to/3RF1ao5 A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White Jr. Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4dIp5KV Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame and Jonathan W. White Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4fxFhkq Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America by David J. Kent and Sidney Blumental Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4dG1mei https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/abraham-lincoln https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/life.htm https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/abraham-lincoln/ https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/history/presidents/al16.html https://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/life-in-brief https://www.lincolnshrine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Life-of-Abraham-Lincoln.pdf https://www.nps.gov/linc/learn/historyculture/abraham-lincoln-the-man.htm Creative commons credits: Rene Sturgell FloNight Jonathunder
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