Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 in Kentucky. He grew up on a farm, and his family was very poor. At age 10, he began to work for his father as an assistant in a small store, where he learned about business. When he was 23 years old, he began studying law and opened a law practice in Springfield, Illinois.
Abraham Lincoln served in the Illinois State Legislature from 1834 to 1842. While he was in the legislature, he helped pass a law that allowed women to own property jointly with their husbands.
In 1846, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. While he was there, he opposed the Mexican-American War and expansion of slavery into western territories of the United States. In 1849, he returned to law practice
Lincoln gained national fame during the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, which were held over the course of seven months throughout Illinois before voters went to the polls to elect Douglas or Abraham Lincoln to represent them in Washington D.C..
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States after winning election on a platform opposing expansion of slavery into western territories of the United States and supporting construction of a transcontinental railroad connecting East and West coasts of America (known as “The Railsplitter”).
