Best Sellers In History Series 2 - "Abraham Lincoln" This is the second episode from the Best Sellers in History series. This series talks about some of the most successful people and sellers in history. We’ll talk about who they are and what made them so successful.  Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America and led the nation during some of the most turbulent times in American history, such as the Civil War. It was the bloodiest war and  the greatest constitutional and political crisis faced by the U.S. at that time. President Lincoln persevered and was able to abolish slavery, strengthen the federal government and modernized the U.S. economy. Despite humble beginnings, Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest statesmen leaders in our nation’s history. Sales Spotlight - Abraham Lincoln  A half-hour long episode isn’t enough time to discuss what made Abraham Lincoln persuasive and successful in his career. However, we can highlight The Gettysburg Address to illustrate how President Abraham Lincoln had the power of persuasion. Here are the four points we’ll be looking at in this episode:   He had the ability to tell stories He sought common ground He was empathetic He had the ability to give compelling reasons  In the era of Abraham Lincoln In the early 1800s, slavery in the United States was a very common thing. At its height, there were 700,000 individuals who were slaves. The first slaves came into the country as early as 1619 and slavery was finally abolished in the year 1865.  For 246 years slavery was entrenched in the U.S. economy and modern society. It was a fact of life and it brought in so much money that by today’s standards, slavery would account for roughly $6 billion. It’s been 154 years since Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and still, slavery lasted almost a hundred years longer than we’ve known our country without it!   Abraham Lincoln was raised in Kentucky and eventually, it became a slave state. His father who was a farmer but they eventually had to leave their smaller farm.  Larger farms had slaves and they couldn’t compete with the manpower. In addition, his father was a Christian and didn’t believe in slavery. Thomas Lincoln took his family and would move several more times before eventually settling in Illinois where Abraham Lincoln grew into adulthood. Lincoln married and his wife’s father had his own slaves. Through this exposure, Lincoln came to know how slavery operated and he didn’t like it. Changing the system Slavery was big business and everywhere. It was a system where some of the most influential people were involved. It would be a difficult system to change but Lincoln didn’t believe that people should be property. It became his passionate to reverse slavery.  When he became a president in 1860, many from the southern states weren’t happy about it. They looked at it as the North trying to impose their rights over their way of life and their economy. This eventually led to the bloodiest war in U.S., the Civil War. The nation was divided. Family members who fought on different sides killed each other. This went on from 1861 to 1865. It was a difficult time for the nation. Democracy was hanging by a thread and with the war going on, everything was falling apart.  Through the need to unify, The Gettysburg Address was written. The four lessons highlighted in today’s episode came from this famous speech.  Lincoln had the ability to tell stories  The Gettysburg Address was delivered in an attempt to pull the nation together. Abraham Lincoln wanted people recognize they weren’t just the north and south but one nation.  Tim David wrote an article about this and he pointed out the lessons from the address,  The first was the power of storytelling. He emphasized that the opening line of the Gettysburg Address was a story about our forefathers and their legacy. From the very first line of his speech, people  wanted to know where Abraham Lincoln was going with his story.