Lincoln and Minnesota?

Surprising but true—there are a number of connections between Abraham Lincoln and Minnesota!

1. Lincoln was the first president Minnesotans could vote for, because we had become a state just two years before his election.
2. Lincoln was president during the Civil War, and the first troops that volunteered to serve were from Minnesota.
3. Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which encouraged settlement in Minnesota and other frontier states.

To honor the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the Minnesota Historical Society has gathered information about this great president, his connections to Minnesota, and Minnesota during the Lincoln years on a special Lincoln Bicentennial webpage. 

Abraham Lincoln and one or all of his connections to Minnesota would make an excellent History Day topic for the theme “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.” 

For more information on President Lincoln and the Dakota Conflict in Minnesota, see the Minnesota History Topic on the Dakota War of 1862. Included is a digital image of the December 6, 1862, letter that President Lincoln wrote to Henry Sibley listing the names of the 39 Dakota Indians to be hanged in Mankato for their participation in the Conflict (in the Edward D. Neill and Family Papers).