Proctor High School - Proctorian Yearbook (Proctor, VT)

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TH E S U TH ERLAND 9 other families that wanted to move farther west, too. So they all set out. At last they came to the County of Macon; it was in this vicinity they decided to live. Abe and his father built a house on their ten acres of land. Splitting rails to build a fence around the ten acres of land was the great task Abe ac- complished. These were the t'celebrated rails we have heard so much about. Everyone has heard the story of the rest of Lincoln's life. But stop and think,u-uthink of living the early life he did and then becoming the President of the United States. wAnna Williams, '29. LINCOLN, THE EMANCIPATOR iA-im-rded First Prize in the Lined?! Essay Canteen When a young man, Lincoln made a voyage down the great Mississippi to New Orleans where he first saw a public auction of slaves. To the big-hearted, kindly, fellow-loving youth this scene never ceased to be hateful. It pierced his very soul, like a sword cleaving silk, and there left an im- pression, a resolution that if it should ever enter his power to do so, he would free their toils of slavery and oppression, giving them citizenship and freedom. When he came back from this voyage to his new home in Iiiinois he was simply a youth ambitious of an honorable part in the life of the young country, of which he was so just- ly proud. He regarded the liberation of the slaves, which will always be associated with his name, as a part of a larger work, the restoration of his country to its earliest and noblest traditions. Along With Lincoln's self-training, an ambition, Which showed itself early and which was from the first a clean and high ambition. enabled him to work himself up step by step, so that at the age of twenty-five he entered political life. which for him was the door to the Presidency of the great- est republic of the worldi When Lincoln finally reached his hard-fought-for goal. he was faced by two of the biggest issues that ever confronted any former President of the United States. These two great issues were-firet, the preservation of the Union, by rein- corporating the seceded states; and. second, the emancipation of the slaves by peaceful means if possible 01-, if necessary. by forcibly taking them from their owners and making them flee citizens of the United States.

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8 THE SUTHERLAND under a beautiful tree. This was all the funeral service there was as there was no minister for miles around. Abe grieved sorely for his mother, who was so dear to him. His father tried to comfort him by saying he would get him another book. But books were hard to obtain at that time and it was quite a while before his father succeeded in securing him a book. Soon a young man, who knew how to write, moved into the vicinity and offered to teach Abe. The offer was accepted at once. He wrote all over the stools. tables and even the trunks of trees. One day he wmte his name on the ground in his father's corn field. Little did he realize that some day that name would be written in gold in every state in the Union and that it would glitter with brightness as the world stood. Abe Lincoln learned to write so well that he wrote a letter to a minister asking him to come and preach a sermon over his mother's grave. When' people learned that Abe could write, many had him write letters for them. About one year after the death of his first wife, Thomas Lincoln married again. Abe loved his new mother and in re- turn he gained her love. She, too, was very eager to have Abe go to school. At this time a man named Mr. Crawford moved into this vicinity, and opened a school. Mrs. Lincoln dressed Abe up and sent him to school. Mr. Crawford learned to love Abe a great deal. One reason why he liked him so well was because he was honest. Many times he was tried but always found to be absolutely truthful. Abraham Lincoln could memorize very easily. Sometimes after hearing a sermon preached he would preach nearly the exact words to his school mates. Among these chums he was ' thought of as the peaoevmaker. He would always settle an argument and make peace among his friends. The whole of Abralhamls education amounted to about one year. His parents wanted him to go to school, but they were poor and needed him at home. After he left school he split logs quite awhile. One day a man came and offered Abe a position at ten dollars a week, on a flat-boat. They, Abe and the man's son. were to take the boat down the river and stop at stores with the goods. Abe accepted the offer and the two boys went on their journey. They had many queer experiences. The trip, on the whole, was very successful. Mr. Lincoln again had the moving fever. There were two

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10 THE SUTHERLAND Lincoln did not plunge headlong and blindly into the great task that was before him, because he knew it was a danger- ous one, and realized that theutmost care would have to be taken in order successfully to execute his plans, the results of which would mean so much to a nation and a people. At first Lincoln investigated and studied conditions look- ing at the question from every possible angle-planning, plan- ning as to which way to go about it. Lincoln perhaps was the only American of his time that was sincerely interested in the negroes. He wanted not merely to free the slaves but also to raise them up to a higher standard of living, to educate and drag them out of the rut they had been living in for centuries. At the same time, his love for the slaves did not quench that for the slave owners. He realized their position better than did all the soap box orators , who preached fiery and eloquent addresses as to just how. why, and when shiver;r should be abolished. He realized that if the United States was ever again to be consolidated into one Union any malice or hatred between people living in the different parts of it would make it a very weak and unstable one. His view in this matter is brought out very plainly in a letter which he wrote to a Imlisiana friend in which he said. I shall do nothing in malice; what I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing. The North itself was somewhat divided as to the slave question. In the states farther north there were the extreme republicans and liberators who insisted that the slaves be freed immediately and that if it were not done now another chance like this would never come. Among the Northern border states there were four that were slave states which were fighting for the preservation of the Union. but not to free the negroes. Any hasty action on Lincoln's part would probably have caused a split among the Northern states which might have eventually led to the secession of the Union slave states. ' Lincoln had to reconnoiter his position. He had to be absolutely sure that everything was ready before making any important move. He would have to make it after he had found out whether or not the border states were true enough to the Union, not only to preserve it but also to uphold and enforce its laws. Another matter that had to be taken into consideration was the time when the proclamation should be issued. If it came after a defeat or when the Union was hard put . the proclamation would seem like a. cry of distress instead of a bugle note of liberty. The danger of division in the North