... Selected writings of Abraham Lincoln

Online version:

I. Autobiographies

1. Autobiographical sketch prepared for the Dictionary of Congress (June 1858)

2. Brief autobiography prepared for J.W. Fell (Dec. 20, 1859)

3. Short autobiography prepared for a popular campaign (June 1, 1860)

4. Memorandum given to the artist Hicks (June 14, 1860)

II. 1836-1853

5. Early principles of popular government (June 13, 1836)

6. Reverence for law (Jan. 27, 1837)

7. On the stump (Dec. 26, 1839)

8. A near view of slavery (Sept. 27, 1841)

9. Opinions of Texas (Oct. 3, 1845)

10. Against the Mexican War (Dec. 22, 1847)

11. Self-advice for a lawyer (July 1850)

12. Advice to a slack man (Jan. 2, 1851)

III. 1854-1860

13. "Lost speech" on slavery (May 29, 1854)

14. The slavery crisis (Aug. 24, 1855)

15. Origin of the idea of half slave and half free (Aug. 15, 1855)

16. Equality the central idea (1856)

17. No dissolution of the Union (1856)

18. Dred Scott decision (June 26, 1857)

19. "A house divided against itself cannot stand" (June 16, 1858)

20. Popular sovereignty (July 10, 1858)

21. Essence of the Declaration of Independence (July 10, 1858)

22. The Freeport doctrine (Aug. 27, 1858)

23. Definition of democracy (Aug. 1?, 1858)

24. Our defense is the spirit of liberty (Sept. 13, 1858)

25. Come back to the Declaration of Independence (Aug. 17, 1858)

26. The principles of Jefferson (Apr. 6, 1859)

27. Capital and labor (Sept. 17, 1859)

28. An appeal to the South at Cooper Institute (Feb. 27, 1860)

29. Labor's interest against slavery (1860)

30. Knownothingism (July 21, 1860)

31. Elected president (Nov. 20-Dec. 13, 1860)

32. To run the machine as it is (Dec. 17, 1860)

33. The basis of compromise (Dec. 22, 1860)

IV. 1861-1865

34. The state of the union (Feb. 11-22, 1861)

35. The first inaugural (Mar. 4, 1861)

36. Asking advice of the senate (Mar. 16, 1861)

37. The president is president (Apr. 1, 1861)

38. Loss of a noble soldier (May 25, 1861)

39. The call to arms (Apr. 15, 1861)

40. The war message (July 4, 1861)

41. "Wanting to work" (Oct. 17, 1861)

42. The nation and the war (Dec. 3, 1861)

43. A message to English working men (Jan. 10, 1862)

44. Executive order on political prisoners (Feb. 14, 1862)

45. Friendship with other nations (Mar. 4, 1862)

46. Advice to the border states (Mar. 10, 1862)

47. Proclamation of thanksgiving for victories (Apr. 10, 1862)

48. Thanks to the soldiers (May 15-Dec. 23, 1862)

49. The broader powers of the Constitution (May 26, 1862)

50. The army and fugitive slaves (July 28, 1862)

51. Duty of aliens (July 21, 1862)

52. Answer to the "prayer of twenty millions" (Aug. 22, 1862)

53. Colonization of Negroes (Aug. 14, 1862)

54. Delay in emancipation (Sept. 13, 1862)

55. Preliminary emancipation proclamation (Sept. 22, 1862)

56. The judgment of the country (Sept. 24, 1862)

57. The slowness of the war (Nov. 4, 1862)

58. Hopes of peace (Dec. 12, 1862)

59. Final proclamation of emancipation (Jan. 1, 1863)

60. The commander-in-chief to the generals (Jan. 22-Oct. 4, 1863)

61. War on the ministers (Jan. 2, 1863)

62. Prayers of God's people (Jan. 5, 1863)

63. The long-enduring consequences (Feb. 22, 1863)

64. Recalling soldiers to their regiments (Mar. 10, 1863)

65. Military service of aliens (May 8, 1863)

66. The Constitution in war (June 29, 1863)

67. Victory at Gettysburg (July 4, 1863)

68. "The fourth of July" (July 7, 1836)

69. Effect of emancipation (Aug. 26, 1863)

70. Gettysburg address (Nov. 19, 1863)

71. Proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction (Dec. 8, 1863)

72. Review of the war (Dec. 8, 1863)

73. "Trying to evade the butchering business" (Jan. 7, 1864)

74. A positive direction (Mar. 1, 1864)

75. Lincoln and Grant (Mar. 9-Apr. 30, 1864)

76. Capital and labor (Mar. 21, 1864)

77. The case against slavery (Apr. 4, 1864)

78. What is liberty? (Apr. 18, 1864)

79. Honor to the churches (May 14, 1864)

80. Sticking to the war (June 16, 1864)

81. Abiding the issue (Aug. 15, 1864)

82. What is involved in this contest (Aug. 18-22, 1864)

83. The purposes of the Almighty (Sept. 4, 1864)

84. The Constitution the ultimate law (Oct. 19, 1864)

85. No free government without elections (Nov. 9, 1864)

86. Victory, not triumph (Nov. 17, 1864)

87. The anti-slavery amendment to the Constitution (Dec. 6, 1864)

88. Origin of the greenbacks (Dec. 16, 1864)

89. To the mother of five heroes (Nov. 21, 1864)

90. Response to serenades (May 9-Nov. 10, 1864)

91. Following the death (Aug. 3, 1864)

92. "With malice toward none, with charity for all" (Mar. 4, 1865)

93. Last public address (Apr. 11, 1865)

Lincoln chronology