Isaac N. Arnold

Born in Hartwick, New York, in 1815, Isaac Newton Arnold studied law, taught school for a time, and moved to Chicago in 1836, where he built a legal career and became active in public life. He served in the Illinois legislature and later represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives during the Civil War era.

Arnold is especially remembered for his strong antislavery views and for introducing, in 1864, an early congressional resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to end slavery. He was also closely associated with Abraham Lincoln and became one of the important early writers to document Lincoln's life and political legacy.

After his years in office, Arnold wrote major works on Lincoln, including The History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery and The Life of Abraham Lincoln. His writing helped shape how later generations understood Lincoln, emancipation, and the political struggles of the Civil War period.