American National Monument: The Lincoln Memorial

April 15, 1865 was a highly anticipated evening at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. President Abraham Lincoln, along with Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward were scheduled to attend a showing of Our American Cousin. This enjoyable gathering soon turned to tragedy for the American leaders. In the middle of the performance, shots were fired and blood was shed while the unassuming audience sat oblivious to the events unfolding. John Wilkes Booth executed his scheme to assassinate President Lincoln, one of the most important and influential men in American history, who inspired the masses with his unexpected rise to power.

We often talk about Francis Bicknell Carpenter here at Cortland County Historical Society. His famous painting of Abraham Lincoln hangs at the Capitol and he was born and raised in Homer. However, there is another native of Cortland County who has three important statues prominently displayed in Washington, D.C. Curious? His name was Clark Mills and he created the first equestrian statue in America and his life began in Taylor.

It is hard not to agree with David Herbert Donald in his biography of Abraham Lincoln. He does his best to not give his professional opinion of anything and only writes about the topics from which he has proof of. The main ideas that the author has throughout the text is greatly supported with Lincoln’s own papers and from written first-hand accounts of his generation. Donald accounts for the changes of position on slavery and the equality of blacks throughout his presidency. I think that this book is a great depiction of Abrahams Lincoln’s life.

Hofstadter is an author who criticizes many historians. In the book, “In The American Political Tradition” Hofstadter does nothing but criticize different historians. One particular historian he challenges in his writings is Abraham Lincoln. According to Hofstadter, Abraham Lincoln was “the exemplar of the self-made man,” he was a very humble man that easily pleased the people and easily attained very high political ranking, as well as success and a lot of power. Abraham Lincoln’s flaws as a president were often overlooked because many Americans felt as if he brought to life what is known to be the great American dream. Because of this, many of his good qualities were true, but yet exaggerated. In this chapter about Lincoln it was

There are an infinitely amount of events that have occurred throughout the history of mankind. Yet, it is impossible for any single person to recollect or to have lived through all of the events that have happened in the world. Because of this, we as a society can only witness second-hand what has been documented by those who actually lived through these events before us. With this documentation comes a lot of trust, because without living through historical events, it is impossible for one to really know what is and isn’t true. This is why we must ensure that the history that is remembered, is in fact the truth, and the entire story. Unfortunately, those in power have chosen to leave out many portions of our history; and as a society, we must change this so that truth prevails. A prime example of this is the Battle of Liberty Place Monument in Louisiana. The Battle of Liberty Place monument in Louisiana only tells half the history of an event that should never be forgotten. The vision it currently displays is that White lives mean more than Blacks lives do, and it does this by honoring only the lives lost of racist White supremacists in a fight of discrimination. This is atrocious and yet this ideal that Black lives don’t matter has been present and still affects American society to this day. We plan on changing this monument to show the whole truth of the event, and highlighting the terrible racism that occurred during this event so that we may learn from it, and never

Was born on February 12,1809 in the Hodgenville Kentucky. He was killed by John Wilkes booth on April 15,1865,Good Friday, at the age of 56. Abe had 2 siblings ,1 sister and 1 brother, and had 4 kids with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln. He served as a president for 2 years and faced reelection in 1864. Although he only had 3 months of military service he led the United States through the civil war. His sister Sarah died at the age of 20 and his brother didn’t live for more than 3 days. Not only was Abe a president and a war hero but he also was a lawyer. He was the 16th president and he was a republican.

Starting with victory in their Revolution, there were many proposals to build a monument to Washington. After his death, Congress authorized a suitable memorial in the national capital, but the decision was reversed when the Republicans took control of Congress in 1801. The Republicans were dismayed that Washington had become the symbol of the Federalist Party; furthermore, the values of Republicanism seemed hostile to the idea of building monuments to powerful men.[200] Further political squabbling, along with the North-South division on the Civil War, blocked the completion of the Washington Monument until the late 19th century. By that time, Washington had the image of a national hero who could be celebrated by both North and South, and memorials to him were no longer controversial.[201] Predating the obelisk on the National Mall by several decades, the first public memorial to Washington was built by the citizens of Boonsboro, Maryland, in 1827.[202]

One of the U.S.A.’s “founding fathers”, the President Thomas Jefferson directed L’Enfant to base the city on “one of the models of antiquity, which have had the approbation of thousands of years” (Jefferson, T. as cited in Shubow, 2013). In L’Enfant’s plan, the city as well as the architecture of its civic structures were to be classically-based, linking the country’s most visible manifestations of to the ideals of republican Rome and democratic Athens (Shubow, 2013). The images below show two other classically-inspired civic structures in Washington.

With over 51,000 people killed, Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. They built Gettysburg National Military Park to honor the men who died.

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most famous presidents of the United States and is arguably one of the most important figures in history. He helped our country in many ways, by signing the Emancipation Proclamation which abolished slavery in the United States. Without him slavery would most likely still be a thing. He led the Union to a victory in the Civil War which was a very important war because it had an large impact on what the United States is like today. He accomplished many other things too, but was sadly assassinated before he could finish his life on April 14, 1865.

With the 1960s just beginning numerous events were initiated in which caught my attention. For instance, in 1963 an active event and a reactive event took place. The Active event that took place in Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. was the remarkable “I Have a Dream Speech” conducted by Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King Jr. sought out for race equality and to end discrimination against it. With a 17 minute speech, Dr. King was able to touch and move not only the 200,000 civil rights supports but millions watching as it was broadcasted over television airways. Perhaps no sermon in all of American history has marshaled the power and majesty of King’s oration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (Schwarz, 2014)

Similarly, When Martin Luther King delivered his discourse on the same echo of President Abraham Lincoln Memorial, where he referred to President Lincoln in his discourse, "Five score years back, an extraordinary American, in whose representative shadow we stand today, and marked the liberation decree"(King). His utilization of Lincoln brought specialist into his discourse. He picked up the trust of America and set up an optimistic feeling of better future. His statement of Lincoln and his view on social liberties enforced his solid credibility and established a remarkable believability with audience. Despite the similarity of Obama and King credibility, their goals were somehow different. For example, Obama was calling for change the status

"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won… The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won…" Walt Whitman's description of a ship weathering a powerful storm, and returning safe with its mission complete, perfectly illustrates the United States enduring the divisions of the Civil War. This poem is one of numerous commemorations to the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Merrill D. Peterson, author of Lincoln in American Memory, examines an interesting variety of sources, including statues and prints made of Lincoln over the years in addition to the numerous biographies

The United States Capitol, the home of American democracy is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. The building of the Capital reflects the

Architecture, there are very few pieces are architecture that people who do not appreciate it know about. The famous buildings such as churches and landmarks that may have been on the news or are just talked about a whole lot. Knowing architecture or not, it is safe to say that many may know the Empire State Building. Standing at one hundred and two stories tall The Empire State Building is one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world. It was built in eighteen short months during the Great Depression. From nineteen thirty- one to nineteen seventy-two it was the world's tallest building. The Empire State Building stands proudly in the middle of New York City. The Empire State Building is an architectural icon to America and it is the Single