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.
Pea
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
__________________
Governor