In 1861 the Civil War began. The Union (North) faced the Confederates (South) to end slavery. The south was trying to make itself its own country but Lincoln knew that that could not happen. Being against slavery, he supported the Union. In the end the north won and slavery ended.

In 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which states "all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states, are, and henceforth shall be, free." This is probably the most famous document that Lincoln ever issued. It changed the entire country forever.

On March 4th, 1865, Lincoln took the oath of office for his second term as president. On this day Lincoln spoke of making peace knowing that the war was almost over.

On April 14th, 1865, a mad actor named John Wikes Booth snuck into the Presidential box at Fords Theatre in Washington. Lincoln sat there with his family and friends enjoying Laura Keene's performance called "Our American Cousin." Booth fired a pistol in the back of Lincoln's head. Then, leaping down to the stage (and breaking a leg in the process), Booth shouted out to the crowd the motto of the state of Virginia: sic semper tyrannis! ("Thus always to Tyrants!) Later that year, on July 7th, Booth was hanged for his crime.