Abraham Lincoln is viewed as the greatest president in American history. Lincoln was born poor in Kentucky, but he became a successful lawyer and politician. During his term in the antislavery Republican Party, he experienced heated debates with Stephen Douglas, which brought him to national attention. When he became president, he would lead the nation during one of its most difficult trials, the Civil War. There were many contributing factors which caused the Civil War to begin in 1861.
The discussion if slavery should be abolished in western territories was a colossal problem. First, it would upset the balance between slave states and free states. Since northerners wanted slavery to stop spreading, they issued the Wilmot