Abraham Lincoln Part Two

In this entry based on Abraham Lincolns life we will see, in more depth, how his childhood, education, and upbringing influenced the way he handled his presidency and the prosecution of the Civil War. In the previous entry we saw how he had only a combined total of one year of formal education and the rest of his younger years were filled by the dedication of his spirit to teaching himself. This driveness and determination, I believe, carried him through his presidency and the Civil War.

"President Abraham Lincoln had quite a bit to deal with: within the first four months of him becoming President seven states had already seceded from the Union, letting him know that he was not wanted as President. But Lincoln had a job to do: his main interest at this point was keeping the Union together, and he did not have any real concerns about abolishing slavery."

Abraham Lincoln entered into a very tough position. He knew that he was not particularly wanted by the south as President but he was not going to let that stop him, his determination shining through. It was guaranteed that they would try their best to pull away from the Union once he had been elected, the main reason being that they new his position of slavery.

"Lincoln's parents belonged to a faction of the Baptist church that disapproved of slavery, and this affiliation may account for Abraham's later statement that he was "naturally anti-slavery" and could not remember when he "did not so think, and feel."

This however was not President Lincoln's goal for the Civil War. Lincoln new that as the President his job was to keep the Union whole. He was not elected to lead half the country and not lead the rest of it. He would do anything he needed to in order to keep the Union whole and cohesive. As it says in the above quote, Lincoln did not originally plan on abolishing slavery, he did not want any states that were behind him in the war to pull away from him. He however did feel that slavery was wrong, so knowing that it was the right thing to do, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proclamation declared, "all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

"As early as 1849, Abraham Lincoln believed that slaves should be emancipated, advocating a program in which they would be freed gradually. Early in his presidency, still convinced that gradual emancipation was the best course, he tried to win over legislators. To gain support, he proposed that slave owners be compensated for giving up their "property." Support was not forthcoming."

Basically, President Lincoln new deep down that slavery was wrong. He knew it from his childhood on until he died. He new that the best way to enforce emancipation was to gradually force the country to abide to it. Slowly but surely his plans worked and the Emancipation Proclamation was put into motion.

In this entry based on Abraham Lincolns life, we have seen how his upbringing and childhood really shaped his view on slavery. He developed a view that really put him in a tough position with the country but he followed his gut and new what was truly right. I completely admire Abraham Lincoln for his courage and above all his determination.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincolns backround, education, and upringing shaped who he was and how he led our nation as the 16th president. His education was restricted to one year of formal teaching because he was brought up in poverty, but that did not stop him from learning. The purpose of this blog is to view how Lincoln's upbringing, childhood, and education shaped who he was, what he believed, and how he led.

Abraham Lincoln was born on Febuary 12, 1809. He was born in a log cabin in Kentucky to his father, Thomas Lincoln and his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Thomas was brought up in poverty as well but taught himself to be a carpenter and had owned three farms in Kentucky prior to the Lincolns moving out of the state. This must be where Abraham got his drivenness and dedication from. Little is known about his mother.

The letters written by Abraham Lincoln show how impacted he was by his early life. They show how his childhood and upbringing molded the man he grew up to be. "Lincoln seemed to be painly impressed with the extreme poverty of is early surroundings, and the utter absence of all romantic and heroic elements." (Herndon, 2)

Abraham Lincolns inability to go to school and recieve a full multiple year education did not stop him from trying to learn with all his heart. He would walk miles to borrow a book from a neighbor or friend, and would walk that many miles to return it. He did not have an arithmetic book available to him so he scrounged up a couple pieces of paper, which were not easy at all to come by, tyed them together with some string, and made his own. "Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington", "Robinson Crusoe", "Pilgrim's Progress", and "Aesop's Fables", were all some of Lincolns favorite books to get his hands on.

Lincoln basically taught himself all the knowledge he had. The one year of formal teaching somewhat layed the groundwork for his thinking, but his driveness and determination did not let him wallow in his poverty. He went out and made a great man of himself and his legacy is forever remembered. In a following blog we will continue on in seeing how President Lincoln became the man he was.

Most Important Thing We Learned All Year

Its hard to say what I think the most important thing was that we learned about this year. If I have to choose I think it would have to be the importance of the Crusades and their failures. This is very important to what is going on in our world today along with very important to our faith.

The only crusade to really accomplish anything at all was the Ist crusade. The First Crusade was first launched by Pope Urban in 1096 when Alexius called on him for help. The Crusade was created in order to regain Jerusalem from the infidels, or the Muslims, who had captured it from the Eastern Christians. The idea was to free the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule, but it turned into much more.

The Second Crusade began to recapture the city of Edessa in 1147. It was called for by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and led by two kings. Louis VII, King of France, and Conrad III, the German Emperor, led this crusade. They so poorly managed this crusade that nothing at all was accomplished.

During the Third Crusade Saladin, the Muslim leader, recaptured Jerusalem. This led to the German Emperor Frederick I, called "Barbarossa" {Red Beard}; Philip Augustus, King of France; and King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England to become leaders of the Third Crusade. This Crusade also ended in failure.


So I guess one could say another event that showed the failures was the fact that more than one crusade was needed. The First Crusade was the only Crusade that actually succeeded. After that there were only failures and this led to even more failures and many more deaths.In conclusion, one of the biggest events, that led to failures, was the fact that they had recapture city's so many times. After the First Crusade failures were unstoppable. Nothing truly was accomplished after this and many lives were lost.

This is important in my opinion because it just shows how absolutely no one can say that the Christians were persecuting the Muslims. The crusades were a failure, something I would have never found out unless we had studied it in class. I guess the reason I think this is so important is that it just shows how without really looking into something we can just believe it, I believed for the longest time that the Crusades were grand and glorious and much was accomplished...little did I know.

The English Bill of Rights and Its Impact

The English Bill of Rights came to being in 1688 during the Revolution. The Bill was written up by Parliament after the fleeing of King James II. His successors were presented the Bill in 1689. The English Bill of Rights was a very important step for England and it has impacted many Declaration of Rights today, including the very important American Constitution. The purpose of this blog is the view how the English Bill of Rights came into being and how it has affected so many civilizations.

"William of Orange led an invasion of England that is sometimes called the Glorious Revolution. William and Mary served as joint monarchs."(Blashfield, 53) William and Mary were asked to invade England to remove James II from the monarchy. This led King James to flee from England which in turn led to the Bill of Rights.

Due to the fleeing of King James II, and his abuse of power that led to his desertion, the Bill of Rights was drawn up between Parliament and William of Orange for him to agree to when he would accept the crown. When William and Mary, his wife, were crowned in 1689 they swore an oath to reign based on "statutes in Parliament agreed upon, and the laws and customs of the same." John Locke was a major contributor to the Bill of Rights. (Mc Nall 467)

The English Bill of Rights played a huge role in the making of the Constitution of the United States of America. Most of our rights found in the Constitution have some from the English Bill of Rights. We need to keep in mind all the people who fought so hard for our rights in our country and in England.

In conclusion, the English Bill of Rights was drawn up in 1688 after the fleeing of James II from England. It is easy to see how the Bill impacted many others, including the grand Constitution of America. The purpose of this blog was achieved and we viewed how the English Bill of Rights came into being and how it has affected so many civilizations.


Blashfield, Jean F. England. New York: Children's P, 2006.

Mc Nall. Civilization Past and Present. Scott Foresman and Company, 1969.

The

How Music was Changed During the Renaissance

The Renaissance is known for being a time for rebirth of knowledge, art, and music. The printing press allowed most of the renewing to occur along with some well known characters. Music during the Renaissance was used for dancing and mainly pure enjoyment. During the 1400's through the 1600's we see the most changes "in styles of composing, methods of disseminating music, new musical genres, and the development of musical instruments" The purpose of this blog is to look at how music was changed during the Renaissance and how it affects us in our world today.

A major change during the Renaissance within the area of music was the amount of support. music during the Renaissance was extremely supported, more so than it had been in almost any other era. One of the reasons for this was the amount of wealth within many dynasties and families.

A huge advancement in music during the Renaissance was the Printing Press. Along with this, came many well known composers. Josquin Desprez was one of the most important composers during this period. Giovanni Perlugi de Palestrina was another well known composer who wrote simpler melodies for the church so the music didn't over power the text.

Many instruments came to familiarity during the Renaissance. The instrumental music brought about many changes. The instruments included the lute, viol, crumhorn, rackett, sackbut (early trombone) and the trumpet. Up until the 16Th century the voices were considered much more important than the instruments, the Renaissance changed that. Composers were more eager to write music for the instruments rather than the voices.

In conclusion the Renaissance brought about many changes to the arts, many in music. The changes made during that era affects us in our era now. Many familiar and not so familiar names are still known today along with many improvements.

Events Leading to the Reformation

Their were three main causes for the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation. The fallen Church, Martin Luther's teachings and influence, and the building of Saint Peters by the purchase of indulgences all led to Reformation. These three causes greatly affected the Catholic Church and will be visited in this post.

The fallen Church played a huge role in the eruption of the Reformation. The Church had fallen in many aspects, one was the area of corruption. They were selling Church positions to whoever would pay the most, even to Popes. You could buy your family member out of Purgatory, pay to see Holy relics, or buy a statue of your favorite saint. The focus was taken off God and was put on taking people's money. The focus for most Priests or Popes was their social status.

Martin Luther was the most well known "leader" of the Reformation. He was a priest within a monastery who definitely doubted his faith. He was sent to Rome to be in the Holy city and this is where he sees all of the problems within the Catholic Church. Pope Julius was ruling during Luther's journey. Luther sees how corrupted the Church is and is sent to the University of Wittenburg to be a priest and a Professor, as well as a student in order to receive his Doctorate in Theology. Prince Frederick of Saxony was the Patron of the University and did not like Luther's teachings on the problems with the Church. Martin Luther soon posts his 95 theses on the door of the Church after he finds out about the works of the new pope.
He is definitely one of the most remembered of his time.(Booth, Chapter 2;24-55)

The new pope is Pope Leo X. He is from a very wealthy family who built Florence. Pope Leo has a huge goal that he must reach. He wants to build one of the biggest, if not the most ornate, churches known to man. St. Peters was to be built and funded by the selling of indulgences. Indulgences were bought so that the consumer would be rid of past, present, and future sins. A passport to heaven was a hot item back then and people believed the sellers, mainly Letsul. This is the third and final main reason for the outburst of the Protestant reformation.
(Thopson, 55-56)

In conclusion the fallen Church, Martin Luther's teachings and influence, and the building of Saint Peters by the purchase of indulgences all led to Reformation. These three influences' forever changed the Church. Martin Luther is one of the most remembered men of his time, if not all times.

Thompson, Stephen, ed. The Reformation. New York: Greenhaven P, Incorporated, 1999.

Booth, Edwin. Martin Luther : The Courage to Seek. Grand Rapids: Barbour, Incorporated, 2004.