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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United |
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States, was born on February 12, 1809, 200 years ago; guiding the |
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affairs of state with a rare degree of humility and charity, no less |
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than with a firm resolve, he served as the Union commander-in-chief |
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during this nation's most devastating war and led, ultimately, in |
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extinguishing an institution that had long belied the country's |
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democratic precepts; and |
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WHEREAS, A native of Kentucky, Mr. Lincoln spent his young |
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adulthood in New Salem, Illinois, where he kept a store and managed |
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a mill; in 1832, during the Black Hawk War, he was elected a captain |
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of militia, a sign of the high esteem in which he was held amongst |
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his neighbors; and |
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WHEREAS, Though he had little formal education, Mr. Lincoln |
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persevered in teaching himself, and in 1836 he was admitted to the |
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bar; the following year, he moved to Springfield, the new state |
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capital, and over the next two and a half decades he built a highly |
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successful legal practice; and |
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WHEREAS, Drawn to politics at an early age, Abraham Lincoln |
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made his first run for public office at the age of 23, when he |
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unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Illinois Legislature; two years |
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later he prevailed, and he went on to serve four terms in the |
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Illinois statehouse, from 1834 to 1841, as well as a term in the |
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U.S. House of Representatives, from 1847 to 1849; and |
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WHEREAS, An opponent of the Mexican War, Abraham Lincoln |
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found himself out of step with his constituents and retired from the |
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U.S. Congress at the end of his term; in 1854, however, passage of |
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the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened the territories to slavery, |
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brought him back into the political arena; though not an |
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abolitionist, he abhorred slavery and opposed its extension; in |
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1856, he left the Whigs to join the newly created Republican Party; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Two years later, as the Republican nominee for |
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senator from Illinois, Mr. Lincoln engaged the Democratic |
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candidate, Stephen Douglas, in seven widely publicized debates; the |
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state legislature reelected Mr. Douglas as senator, but Mr. Lincoln |
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emerged from the contest as a nationally recognized political |
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leader; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1860, at the Republican convention in Chicago, |
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Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency of the United |
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States on the third ballot; facing three other opponents in the |
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general election, he won with 39 percent of the popular vote; by the |
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time he took office in March 1861, seven southern states had |
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seceded; and |
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WHEREAS, A little more than a month after Mr. Lincoln's |
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inauguration, Fort Sumter fell to Confederate forces, setting off a |
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cataclysmic, four-year-long struggle over the future of the Union; |
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committed, first and foremost, to keeping the nation intact, |
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President Lincoln greatly expanded the powers of the presidency and |
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bent his energies to mastering the intricacies of government |
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business; at the same time, he sought continually for a commanding |
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general who would bring victories to the North; and |
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WHEREAS, The mounting casualties and cost of the war |
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gradually led President Lincoln, as well as many of his countrymen, |
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to view the destruction of slavery as an essential war aim; after |
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issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which pertained only to |
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slaves in areas still in rebellion against the federal government, |
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President Lincoln worked to achieve passage of the Thirteenth |
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Amendment, which abolished slavery throughout the country; and |
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WHEREAS, In early April 1865, a few days before General |
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Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops at Appomattox, President |
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Lincoln visited Richmond, the newly fallen capital of the |
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Confederacy; following the president's return to Washington, a |
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close friend observed that "that indescribable sadness which had |
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previously seemed [a constituent] element of his very being, had |
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[suddenly given way to] an equally indescribable expression of |
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serene joy[,] as if conscious that the great purpose of his life had |
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been achieved"; and |
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WHEREAS, Though President Lincoln prosecuted the war with an |
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unswerving determination, the magnanimity of his spirit continues |
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to resonate powerfully to this day, and his words calling Americans |
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to a noble purpose are among the best known of any president; in his |
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Gettysburg Address, moreover, he held aloft a vision of this |
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country that has become an integral part of the American creed; and |
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WHEREAS, At home and abroad, Abraham Lincoln remains one of |
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the most revered figures in the pantheon of American heroes, and |
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this anniversary of his birth provides a fitting occasion to |
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reflect on his immeasurable contributions to this nation and to the |
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articulation of this country's highest ideals; now, therefore, be |
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it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham |
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Lincoln and encourage appropriate celebrations of this milestone |
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throughout the Lone Star State. |