Abraham Lincoln

2007-03-08T04:20:19Z

Jaytkay:

[[Image:Abe_Lincoln.png|right|Abraham Lincoln]]

'''Abraham Lincoln''' (1809-1865) presided over the Civil War as the 16th president of the United States. Idolized by the North and hated by the South, Lincoln pursued his goal of keeping the Union together despite the fervent desire by southerners to secede. Approaching secession with the mind of the typical attorney that Lincoln was, he declared it illegal and managed, or mismanaged in the view of some, the resultant war. He is also famous for his [[Gettysburg Address]], affirming the commitment of America to equality for all with the words: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.."

Homeschooled as a Christian in his youth, Lincoln became a successful attorney in Illinois who was known for his integrity and his piercing cross-examinations. He lost many more political races than he won, and served briefly in [[Congress]] as a Whig opposed to the Mexican War. That cost him reelection, and a decade later in 1858 he ran for the [[U.S. Senate]] against the dynamic speaker [[Stephen Douglas]], who defeated him. But Lincoln ran a strong enough race that Douglas was forced to alienate some of his supporters with his [[Freeport Doctrine]], and when both ran for president two years later in 1860, Lincoln won easily without even campaigning. His victory precipitated the Civil War, since many southern states believed that he would abolish slavery, since abolition was a core plank of the [[Republican]] party.

Lincoln was perhaps the only President who appeared to greatly increase his Christian faith while in office. As a congressmen in the 1840s, Lincoln distinguished himself by redoing the geometric proofs in the great work of [[Euclid]], and prided himself on logic rather than faith. From 1860 to 1863 Lincoln continued to rely entirely on logical arguments in his speeches and approach to the Civil War. But on the way to the cemetery in Gettysburg in November 1863, Lincoln apparently found God and inserted after "one nation" the phrase "under God" into his pre-written Gettysburg Address, defying the Euclidean views of some logical, secular, liberal constituents. The following year Lincoln won reelection, and his Second Inaugural Address was filled with spiritual references lacking from his First Inaugural Address.

Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC on Good Friday, April 14 1865, a few days after the Civil War ended, and died the next day. He became a martyr to the North and a cause for revenge against the South, from which the assassin (John Wilkes Booth) had come.

==References==
*[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm Gettysburg Address]

Liberal

2007-03-08T04:08:09Z

Jaytkay:

'''Liberal''' is a term used to describe a person who generally is left-wing in their attitudes towards the government, establishment, and many other laws. The term was first used in reference to a political opinion c. 1801 A.D., in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when it meant "tending in favor of freedom and democracy"—at that time the liberal party was the party of individual political freedoms. <ref>Etymology [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=liberal]</ref>

"Liberal" today means the disfavoring of individual responsibility in favor of collectivism or egalitarianism. Liberals tend to prefer equality in result rather than increased opportunities that can result in unequal results.

The term "liberal" is used often in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Some examples of liberal beliefs include:

* gun control
* taxpayer funding of abortion
* prohibiting prayer in school
* The United States [[Bill of Rights]]
* distributing wealth from the rich to the poor
* government programs to rehabilitate criminals
* same-sex marriage
* amnesty for illegal aliens
* teaching of evolution
* increased taxpayer funding of public school
* protection of endangered species
* foreign treaties, especially for disarmament
* taxpayer-funded rather than private medical care
* increased power for labor unions

Liberals typically align themselves with the Democratic Party in the United States, and the Labour Party in Great Britain.<ref>http://www.labour.org.uk/home</ref>

An alternative definition of liberal is anything that is not conservative. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary includes this definition of "liberal":<ref>Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal</ref>

:Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ...

==References==
<references/>

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Abraham Lincoln

Liberal