An American politician and lawyer from Illinois, Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, Lincoln gained national prominence after he engaged in a series of debates with fellow Illinois politician, Senator Stephen Douglas, when the two were running for Senator of Illinois in 1858.

Lincoln was known for his stance against slavery, although history is unclear of whether this was because he viewed African-Americans to be the equal of white Americans. His prime reasoning for his opposition to slavery was on economic grounds, believing, as many Republicans did, that slavery was regressive because it deprived the slaves of the fruits of their labor and promoted laziness.

A deft, albeit conservative, rational politician in a time of great passion and religious revival, Lincoln was a well-known and respected orator, who gave some of the most famous speeches in American history. He presided over the Union during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and managed to successfully defeat the Confederate States of America so as to preserve the United States as one, single country. His Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in state still in rebellion against the Union in January 1863.

Following the end of the Civil War, Lincoln had hoped to move gradually towards the full inclusion of African-Americans in society and to slowly re-integrate the South into American politics on friendly terms.