H.C.R. No. 10

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born on February 12, 1809, 200 years ago; guiding the affairs of state with a rare degree of humility and charity, no less than with a firm resolve, he served as the Union commander-in-chief during this nation's most devastating war and led, ultimately, in extinguishing an institution that had long belied the country's democratic precepts; and

WHEREAS, A native of Kentucky, Mr. Lincoln spent his young adulthood in New Salem, Illinois, where he kept a store and managed a mill; in 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he was elected a captain of militia, a sign of the high esteem in which he was held amongst his neighbors; and

WHEREAS, Though he had little formal education, Mr. Lincoln persevered in teaching himself, and in 1836 he was admitted to the bar; the following year, he moved to Springfield, the new state capital, and over the next two and a half decades he built a highly successful legal practice; and

WHEREAS, Drawn to politics at an early age, Abraham Lincoln made his first run for public office at the age of 23, when he unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Illinois Legislature; two years later he prevailed, and he went on to serve four terms in the Illinois statehouse, from 1834 to 1841, as well as a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1847 to 1849; and

WHEREAS, An opponent of the Mexican War, Abraham Lincoln found himself out of step with his constituents and retired from the U.S. Congress at the end of his term; in 1854, however, passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened the territories to slavery, brought him back into the political arena; though not an abolitionist, he abhorred slavery and opposed its extension; in 1856, he left the Whigs to join the newly created Republican Party; and

WHEREAS, Two years later, as the Republican nominee for senator from Illinois, Mr. Lincoln engaged the Democratic candidate, Stephen Douglas, in seven widely publicized debates; the state legislature reelected Mr. Douglas as senator, but Mr. Lincoln emerged from the contest as a nationally recognized political leader; and

WHEREAS, In 1860, at the Republican convention in Chicago, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency of the United States on the third ballot; facing three other opponents in the general election, he won with 39 percent of the popular vote; by the time he took office in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded; and

WHEREAS, A little more than a month after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, Fort Sumter fell to Confederate forces, setting off a cataclysmic, four-year-long struggle over the future of the Union; committed, first and foremost, to keeping the nation intact, President Lincoln greatly expanded the powers of the presidency and bent his energies to mastering the intricacies of government business; at the same time, he sought continually for a commanding general who would bring victories to the North; and

WHEREAS, The mounting casualties and cost of the war gradually led President Lincoln, as well as many of his countrymen, to view the destruction of slavery as an essential war aim; after issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which pertained only to slaves in areas still in rebellion against the federal government, President Lincoln worked to achieve passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, In early April 1865, a few days before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops at Appomattox, President Lincoln visited Richmond, the newly fallen capital of the Confederacy; following the president's return to Washington, a close friend observed that "that indescribable sadness which had previously seemed [a constituent] element of his very being, had [suddenly given way to] an equally indescribable expression of serene joy[,] as if conscious that the great purpose of his life had been achieved"; and

WHEREAS, Though President Lincoln prosecuted the war with an unswerving determination, the magnanimity of his spirit continues to resonate powerfully to this day, and his words calling Americans to a noble purpose are among the best known of any president; in his Gettysburg Address, moreover, he held aloft a vision of this country that has become an integral part of the American creed; and

WHEREAS, At home and abroad, Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most revered figures in the pantheon of American heroes, and this anniversary of his birth provides a fitting occasion to reflect on his immeasurable contributions to this nation and to the articulation of this country's highest ideals; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas hereby commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and encourage appropriate celebrations of this milestone throughout the Lone Star State.

Peña Deshotel Branch

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.C.R. No. 10 was adopted by the House on February 12, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.C.R. No. 10 was adopted by the Senate on May 18, 2009, by a viva-voce vote.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________

Date

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Governor