Abraham Lincoln | Blog 1-1

Abraham Lincoln was an easy going and levelheaded man whose likeable personality and sharp mind opened many opportunities for him. The strong intelligent leader that Lincoln eventually became known as wasn't a result of his upbringing. His parents in fact were actually two uneducated farmers, and his father illiterate. Lincoln did partly obtain his worldview from religion. He was never a regular churchgoer, but he did seem to have definite religious beliefs in his career. Although religion played a certain role in Lincoln's life, books were the only real mentor Abe ever had in his life. He was an ardent reader and would use writings to challenge his mind. Books and their ideas would eventually shape Abraham Lincoln’s worldview which would guide his decisions during the Civil War. (Lincoln)

Abraham Lincoln was born into poverty in the year 1809, to parents who lacked a formal education. He and his family lived in a one room log cabin. His father made a living as a carpenter. The Lincoln family attended church regularly, but Abe himself never fully devoted himself to a specific church. His parents' religious beliefs and activities did seem to have an effect on him, as he claimed he was "naturally anti-slavery". However, during the Civil War he tried not to tamper with slavery so as to preserve the Union, therefore after the secession he informed the Border States of this. Lincoln’s thoughtful mind allowed him to know not to scare any states into secession and maintain unity. (Abraham Lincoln: A Biography)

Religious background aided Abraham in matters other than the Civil War, too. The primary reason why he was elected was his stance on slavery. Lincoln firmly was against slavery. This was well known and was the chief reason for the secession of certain states. Although never an outspoken proponent of Christianity, the ideals of the Baptist church (anti-slavery in particular) that Abe was around during his childhood seemed to have an effect on his worldview. During his presidency Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, forbidding slavery in the Confederate states and ordering the freeing of slaves.

Another rather large contribution to Lincoln’s worldview was his fervor for reading. Abe only had little under a year of formal education, but he compensated with books. Throughout his childhood he would ritually borrow books, whetting his mind with information and ideas. Books even guided Lincoln essentially to his presidency. If hadn’t been for law books, his interest in politics never would have been ignited. Lincoln used his knowledge of law and his keen logic to outline to the people why slavery was wrong. Being a sturdy opponent of slavery, Abraham Lincoln moved smoothly along to become president.

Everyone has their own worldview. But it isn't taught to us, and we don't learn it in school. In most cases we just move through life and obtain various ideas to form our outlook on the world. So really we can't absolutely know all the sources that Abraham Lincoln assimilated to form his worldview, but we can know some. He was a great president, some even venture to say the greatest, and his decisions during his life and presidency can only be attributed to his worldview. (All previous sources)

Thomas, Benjamin P., Burlingame, Michael. Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. SIU Press, 2008.

Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln. Simon and Schuster, 1996.