Abraham Lincoln

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

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Violence erupted in New Orleans, and white southerners killed and injured more than 100 freed slaves during a riot against reconstruction plans. (Image by Alamy)

The reconstruction of America after the Civil War

Robert E Lee (seated at the table, left) surrenders to Union commander Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Court House. (Image by Alamy)

A battle of wills: why the South lost the American Civil War

An illustration depicting the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, 1865. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Q&A Could modern medicine have saved Abraham Lincoln?

President Abraham Lincoln visiting soldiers encamped at the Civil War battlefield of Antietam in Maryland, 1 October 1862. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

The American Civil War: 7 facts and fictions

An illustration showing the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress in 1850. The law aimed to make it easier for slaveholders to reclaim runaway ‘property’ in the free states, and contributed to rising political tension. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

The story of the American Civil War: 32 key moments in the landmark conflict

The bronze statue in Washington DC celebrating Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of slaves shows the 16th president standing over a shackled African American. Lincoln is

Lincoln and slavery: “If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would”

A painting depicting George Washington with British soldiers at Yorktown. In the final battle of the war at the siege of Yorktown, writes Jem Duducu, there were nearlyas many French soldiers and sailors as American rebels fighting for colonial independence. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

American history myths: 7 things people get wrong

Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012) – a “sentimental, eminently weighty version of presidential history”, says Dr Wills. (Photo by Moviestore collection Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)

Disney history: how has the corporation shaped our perception of the past?

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln’s funniest jokes

The White House, Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

History quiz – US presidents

A photograph of Abraham Lincoln taken after his November 1860 election and before his March 1861 inauguration.

The Library A country at the crossroads: how Lincoln’s 1860 election victory set America on the path to Civil War

John Wilkes Booth leans forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C, in 1865.

Q&A What play was Abraham Lincoln watching when he was shot?

Photo of Abraham Lincoln

Q&A Did Abraham Lincoln’s beard win him the election?

A Grand National Union Banner depicting president Abraham Lincoln and his running mate Andrew Johnson

Lincoln: The vote that saved America