On this day 150 years ago, the United States lost one of its most revered leaders. In the morning of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln passed away after being shot at Ford’s Theatre the night before.
It seems unfair Lincoln should have died under such circumstances, less than a week after the end of the Civil War, when the country needed its leader. It now befits Americans to reflect on the achievements of one of the greatest leaders this country has ever known.
Lincoln proved diligent.
His childhood in rural Illinois offered him few chances for formal education; he didn’t even attend public school for a full year. That didn’t stop him from studying law and seeking to represent his state and country. He lost multiple campaigns throughout his political career before eventually becoming the nation’s first Republican president.
Lincoln cared for the poor.
His Homestead Act of 1862 provided land in the West to poor American citizens who were willing to work for it. The act gave families a 160-acre plot of land, but required them to build on it and prepare the land for crops. If, after five years, the land had been significantly “improved,” it was awarded to the family for a small registration fee. This gave individuals and their posterities an opportunity for growth they might not have otherwise found.
Lincoln stuck to his beliefs.
Although his Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free any slaves, it enabled African-American men to fight for the Union’s Navy or Army. This helped ensure their freedom, which would come later as a result of the 13th Amendment, of which Lincoln was a strong supporter. He was certainly not the only person in the mid-19th century who believed that slavery was wrong, but he was one of the few in a position of power to actually do something about it. If not for Lincoln in the White House at that exact time, who knows how much longer slavery would have lasted?
Lincoln fought to keep the nation together.
During his presidency, it would have been a tempting option to just let the Southern states secede. But Lincoln knew the value of keeping the states united. He opposed war but saw no alternative. The unpopular choice of going to war against the South ultimately led to a stronger nation — "this nation, under God," as he himself said.
Truly, Lincoln’s legacy is one of unfailing courage.
In the light of recent tragedies regarding race, gender inequality and political prejudice, the Great Emancipator’s example lives on — and is something to emulate.
At the Gettysburg Cemetery in 1863, Lincoln dedicated the ground for those who fought in support of the United States. But it wasn’t only the hallowed land that needed dedication. Said Lincoln: “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
That work continues today. It falls to modern Americans to take up the legacy Abraham Lincoln left behind, to adopt his same courage to advance the work of a free land and to do what’s right in the face of steady opposition.