At the age of 1828 and 19, James King gentry, a wealthy landowner in Indiana, offered Lincoln a job to help him take a gondola full of agricultural products and bacon to New Orleans along the Mississippi River. A monthly salary of $8 (now less than $200) is certainly not a high-paying job, but it does give teenagers the opportunity to take risks. Before his visit, he spent his whole life on farms and houses in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana, and knew nothing about life outside these States. The gentlemen gave him the job by accident. He opened a shop, and the Lincolns are customers of this shop. Knowing that Abbe is about the same age as his son Allen-Allen is the captain and has the ability to complete the tasks that need to be completed, the gentleman asked Abbe:
Unfortunately, neither the gentleman nor Lincoln took notes or kept a diary during the trip, and some known events took place during the voyage. One of the reasons is that the sandbar problem of this small gondola is very serious. When a ship is pinned down by cargo in shallow water, it often gets stuck, which means that the cargo must be unloaded to make the ship lighter, and then the ship is pushed out and reloaded. This is a boring, arduous, time-consuming and potentially dangerous task.
Another well-known situation is that the ship was attacked by a group of people near baton rouge. They are pirates, so to speak. In search of goods and money, the group almost caught up with the ship. They have the intention of robbing and may kill Lincoln and his companions if necessary. Gentlemen and Lincoln can fight them long enough to cut the anchor, and it is almost impossible to escape.
The last detail I learned from this trip is legendary. In a few years, Alan King Terry will continue to tell this story. He said that Lincoln's future as a "great liberator" was sown in that trip to the south. According to gentlemen, when Lincoln landed in New Orleans, he saw the city's notorious slave market and was disgusted. It is said that he said to the gentlemen, "Allen, this is a shame. If I am interested in this matter, I will give it a good beating. " Thirty-five years later, whether or not he really said those specific words as the gentlemen said, he did it-released The Emancipation Proclamation and liberated all slaves in the south.
Three years later, in 183 1 year, Lincoln traveled along the Mississippi River again and experienced many things he did for the first time. In fact, the problem of sandbars seems to have become more prominent. Written records show that Lincoln and his crew wasted time and materials in dealing with the problem that the ship was trapped in the sandbar.
There is a prophetic story. Even before 183 1 left Illinois, ships were trapped on the Sangamon River to build dams to get water. Lincoln rushed to the nearby Cooper's shop (a place to make wooden barrels), took an auger, drilled a hole in the side of the boat, and then continued to let the water flow out. Then he pushed the boat off the dam himself. A year later, when he attended the Illinois convention from Sangamon County, one of his key platforms was to improve the navigation of rivers and bring more trade to the county. Lincoln said in a speech at 1832: "I believe that progress is on the Sangamon River, and Lincoln is very important and desirable to the people of this county.
Although he failed in the election of political office in 1832, Lincoln was finally elected as a member of the Illinois legislature two years later. Although he didn't make much achievements in improving river navigation during the conference, this problem still bothers him. After staying there for two years, he moved to the Illinois House of Representatives, and then entered the US Capitol at 1847 to become a member of Congress. Constantly wandering on the Sangamon River, he was often stuck, which finally prompted him to take some measures. During the recess of Congress, he finally completed the patent and submitted it a few days after the end of the term of a member of Congress. Submitted in March 1849.
Shows his interest and knowledge in better water transport. As a lawyer, he understands that patents can get some protection in terms of intellectual property rights. In fact, 10 years later, he delivered a speech in support of patents. He said that patents are "the fuel of the fire of genius to discover and produce new and useful things." He also understood that at that time, patents needed models. He cooperated with a mechanic in Springfield to cut a model ship with his buoy device.
At that time, the legal partner said, "Occasionally, he will bring the model to the office. Although cutting it down will reduce the advantages and revolution of the model, it is destined to play a role in steamboat navigation. Although I thought it was unrealistic, I didn't say anything, probably out of respect for Lincoln's reputation as a boatman.
Today, both the model and the patent application are in the National Museum of American History, but there are some disputes about what the museum collects. Although a curator told Smithsonian magazine in 2006 that this model is "one of the six most valuable things in our collection", it is possible that what they have is actually a replica. The nameplate on the top of the model says "Abram Lincoln". This spelling mistake made some people think it was false, because Lincoln would never misspell his name. This plate may have been added after Lincoln submitted it, but it may never be known-although his signature may be on the model, it was buried under varnish hundreds of years ago. As for the patent itself, there is no doubt that it is true, written by Lincoln. But a key part is missing-his signature may have been cut off and taken away by a collector who obtained a patent in the19th century.
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