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Essay / The Beginnings and Career of Abraham Lincoln
The book Abraham Lincoln is part of a series called “In Their Own Words.” The biography was written by George Sullivan. The book discusses in detail the early life of Abraham Lincoln, including his life as a child, his early days in politics, and his life with Mary Todd. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayLincoln's parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, were both born in the state of Virginia and married in 1806 They built a cabin in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. In 1807 their first child Sarah was born. The family moved to a farm shortly after his birth. They built another cabin containing one room. On February 12, 1809, the Lincolns gave birth to a baby boy, whom they named Abraham Lincoln. They lived there for two years and decided to move again. They packed up and moved to Knob Creek, Kentucky. Tom had problems with legal rights to his property during his years living there. He decided to move again and head to Indiana. Abe never liked Little Pigeon Creek. He thought life was harder there than it had been in Kentucky. Abe helped his father build a house and clear the land. Shortly after moving there, Nancy's relatives, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow, came to live with them along with 19-year-old Dennis Hanks. Dennis and Abe quickly became best friends. When a terrible disease known as milk sickness swept through southern Indiana, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow died as did Lincoln's mother. In the book it says: “This happened when cows ate a poisonous plant called white snake root. » Abraham helped build his mother's coffin and buried her near their cabin. Sarah took her mother's place. She took care of the house and cooked for the family. The father returned to Elizabethtown for a break. Two months later, when he returned, he took with him a new wife. Sarah Johnston had three children who she brought with her. Sarah was a loving woman who raised Abe and Sarah as her own. Thomas Lincoln taught Abe to become a farmer like himself. This made access to school difficult. He did not have more than a year of schooling. He loved reading, especially history and biography, but books were rare on the frontier. Sometimes he and Dennis would walk to Gentryville. Once there, they would meet other farm boys and share stories. This is where he mastered his storytelling skills. Once Abe was 17, his sister got married and moved away. Sarah died a year later during childbirth. Abe was busy on the farm and splitting rails for fences. He cut firewood, killed pigs and helped on the ferry. In his free time, Abe built a boat. He and a friend named Allen Gentry traveled to New Orleans to sell goods. They traveled along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The trip showed Lincoln a new world beyond his farming lifestyle. Lincoln and two others built an eighty-foot flatboat for Denton Offutt. They filled the ship with goods and sailed to New Orleans. When they returned, Offutt offered Lincoln a job, which he gladly accepted. Lincoln was the Offutt store manager for 6 years. In his free time he wrestled and ran errands, he also spent hours discussing politics in the store. “Politics always interested Lincoln. As an Offutt store employee, he had spent countless hours discussing.