Hero+Essay-+Michaela+09

Michaela Lauria Water 12.1.2009

Every person needs someone to admire, to look up to, someone like a hero. A hero is someone that you want to be like, or that you look at and say "wow, they did an amazing thing!" My hero from the 19th century is Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln is a hero to me because he was a president who made an impression on our history, as a man who wanted everyone to be equal and thought they deserved a chance. In this essay I will prove why Abraham Lincoln is a hero because he is someone to admire who did something great and he is also someone I look up to. There are many reasons for this, but I will show many reasons that make him **my ** hero. Abe Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky. Abe Lincoln wanted to help the slaves by freeing them from their masters who abused them and made them do work without pay. He did this because he believed every one should be equal and deserves the right to be able to be free and not have to worry about your "master. If Abe Lincoln was not around we would not look at African Americans the same way. We would probably look at them with less respect because Abe proved that they were regular people just like anyone else. He did this because he believed that everyone should be treated equally and believed African Americans deserve to have the same rights as the rest of us. Lincoln was a big part of the civil war; he was president at this time and had to make peace with the south even though they wanted slavery which Lincoln was against. This fits my definition because I look up to him and has made a difference in my life, although everyone has a different hero he is a hero to many for what he has done for the United States of America. He proves to be my hero in many ways, one being how strong he was during the civil war when the southern states left the Union to become part of the Confederacy. He had to be strong enough to get 75.000 troops to begin the war on April 15, 1961. Another reason is that when he asked the 75,000 troops to fight many more states were threatening to become part of the Confederacy. When this happened he lost a lot of people who were supporting him as president. While the states were threatening to become part of the confederacy, mobs of people attacked the Union troops and tried to head for the capital. After all of this happened, over 1800 were arrested. This had a huge impact on people’s lives because the North realized they were losing many of the people who had once been part of their "side." It also put many people in jail and killed so many while the war was just beginning. In a message to congress Abe Lincoln said this referring to the war, and I think this is a great quote that describes why he is my hero.” And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts." --July 4, 1861 On April 14, 1865 Lincoln was shot for his country, a man named John Booth shot him while he was watching a play at Ford's Theatre. This meets my definition because he stood up for what he believed in no matter what. He died because he gave the blacks the freedom to vote, this makes him my hero because without him saying that we would have never had a changed world. Although getting killed doesn't seem like such a heroic thing, to me it was because it proved he did enough for the African Americans to make a change and someone who disagreed realized how much he was doing for this country. Another reason is that even though he was shot his presence and everything he has done will always be with us and in our text books for everyone in the future to learn. The last reason that this was a reason he is my hero is because he proved to us that everyone deserves a chance, and look how far we have come today. A person who did not think Lincoln was a hero is John Wilkes Booth, and to prove he hated Abe he shot him. He tried to stop him by killing him and unfortunately it worked, Abe Lincoln was shot and killed by John Booth. To prove how much he hated Abe Lincoln here is a quote he said, "Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment." Abe Lincoln left a huge legacy to everyone in the United States, to those who are unborn and who will be learning about Abe in the future they will know he is the reason we are all free today. All the work Abe has done shows in that now we have an African American president and without Lincoln he might still be a slave in the south! Lincoln also made an impression as one of the best presidents we had because he stuck up for what he believed in. Even in a hundred years you can go to Washington DC to see his monument because that is how much he meant to the United States.  A problem that Abe Lincoln would help solve from the 21st century if he still was here is bullying. If I was to call Abe Lincoln (if he was still alive) I think he would give me the advice to make it a serious crime if you bully someone, just like he did with the African Americans. This relates to each other is many ways because in the past African Americans were not treated correctly, now children who don’t have the same things as everyone else are getting bullied. When some one did something to an African American they would get penalized and that is the advice I think he would give me.

SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/quotes.htm http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln72.html