A Martyr for Liberty:

Abraham Lincolns Reaction to Slavery

Robert Martinez and Zachary Collins Senior Division Group Website

As we began our research we were ambiguous on choosing a topic. After many days of research we finally decided on a topic we deemed as informative, interesting, and copious in resources. The excessive amount of recorded information made the research extensive and accurate. Choosing the website category was a no brainer. We are all tech enthusiasts who enjoy many aspects of technology. National History Day enabled us to broaden our horizons on the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the most powerful executor of our nation and was the emancipator of the slaves. We then embarked on our National History Day journey. Our research began in our school library. From there we decided to browse the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress gave us an abundant array of primary sources. We were ambitious for great sources, so we began to check out books through Herrick Public Library and took advantage of the inter loan service. A great source of information was the book Emancipation Proclamation by John Hope. Our group made several visits to Hope Colleges Van Wylen Library. We found a plethora of excellent sources. We also made a few trips to the GVSU Allendale campus where we did research at their library. We attempted to get interviews with a few US History Professors from the nearby Colleges. We contacted Dr. Fred Johnson but were unable to get an interview. We then contacted Sean O Neil of GVSU. He was very instructive pointed us to Scott Stabler, US History Professor at GVSU. Professor Stabler agreed to conduct an interview. He was very informative and gave us more sources. We put a clip from the interview on the website. The rest of the interview gave us new leads and many ideas to think about on our journey to be apex history enthusiasts.

The reason we decided to create a website entry was because we felt it was the most optimum of the choices and we all have prior experience with web design. Designing a website would allow us to present the information with great clarity and tremendous visuals. The website was first drawn out on paper then brought to life in Photoshop. We all participated in the design and the coding of the site into HTML, CSS, and Javascript. No templates were used. The website was coded from scratch. We had several designs but we finally decided on one we felt was suitable. The design we chose was suitable because we felt it was the most visually appealing. The website category allowed us to demonstrate Lincolns reaction to slavery and actions with ease. Abraham Lincolns actions and his reaction to slavery tremendously altered the outcome of the Civil War and the world today. Lincoln was our most powerful president and an incredible individual whose reaction to slavery caused its abolishment from the United States.