Abraham Lincoln's original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the time. During Lincoln's influential years, slavery was a recognized and legal institution in the United States of America. Although Lincoln began his career by declaring himself “anti-slavery,” he was unlikely to accept immediate emancipation. However, even though Lincoln did not start out as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and even recommended extending the vote to blacks in his last speech. Although Lincoln's feelings toward blacks and slavery were fairly constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address demonstrates that his political stance and actions toward slavery have changed profoundly. Abraham Lincoln was a complicated but prosperous person, shown through his transition from poverty to politics. Lincoln was born into poverty in Kentucky in 1809 and settled in Illinois at the age of fifteen. He was a captain in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832 and served four terms as a Whig in the state legislature and Congress, from 1847 to 1849. Lincoln stepped away from politics for a while and returned to the law, but his interest was rekindled following the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the first events that demonstrated Lincoln's disapproval and at the same time tolerance for slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, proposed by Stephen A. Douglas and signed by Franklin Pierce, divided the region into two territories. The territory north of the 40th parallel was the Kansas Territory and south of the 40th parallel was the Nebraska Territory, the controversy... at the center of the paper... has changed dramatically by the time of this address. He believed that the Civil War had created a “new birth of freedom” within the nation. that we here strongly resolve that these dead shall not die in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Sacrificing the lives of so many soldiers gave Lincoln a new perspective on life, liberty, and independence and now Lincoln no longer defends slavery. Before the Civil War, the “Union” tried to ignore slavery and the fact that blacks were actually included in the Declaration of Independence. This was now recognized by Lincoln and the rest of the nation as the essence of democratic government. The sacrifices of Union soldiers ensured a government oriented by the people and for the people.