Lincoln was a self-taught lawyer which earned him the name "Honest Abe", Lincoln was one of the greatest opponents of slavery, and he brought the nation together through preserving the Union. Lincoln was elected president in November of 1860 shortly before the Civil War. There have been 44 presidents in all of American history, but very few can be considered one of the greatest. Many people classify Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, president of all time. Lincoln has many accomplishments. He is known for enacting policies that helped America, preserving the Union, and most of all abolishing slavery.
Abraham Lincoln is also known as "The Great Emancipator" for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.The Emancipation
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It determined what kind of country the U.S would be. It would either be a divided confederation of states or an undivided nation with a sovereign national government and whether or not it would be a country of slavery. Lincoln put all his efforts into preserving the Union during his presidency. "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided." Lincoln said this in his "House Divided" speech. Slavery and the secession of the Southern states were his biggest problems. He could deal with slavery, but how could he deal with the division of the country? He would have to deal with this using economic, military, and political policies. His economic strategy was to use the advantages the North had over the South. They had more manufacturing factories than the South. They had a bigger population and had more workers. They also had more railroads for trade. This made them have an economic advantage over the South. His military strategy was to take control of the Mississippi River and Richmond. His political strategy was to promise the South that he wouldn't end slavery immediately but gradually. Lincoln didn't hate the South for what they did and he didn't want to punish them for it. Instead, he issued the 10% Plan which stated that a southern state could be readmitted into
He disliked how the south was creating new slave states, and how it was slowly making slavery permanent in America, this led him to become the head of the Republicans to fight for what he believed in. Another boulder was how stubborn the South was to end slavery. It is true that they needed it because of all the farm land and labor that was needed to be done, it would just be easier to do the chores by utilizing slaves, but Lincoln believed that, that was unethical to use people to their advantage. To overcome this, Lincoln made the Emancipation and the Gettysburg Address (consisting of 4 major parts; to help the government, “all men created equal” (Oates 138), outlaw old leaders in rebel Dixie, and lastly obeying the Emancipation Proclamation) these were a mandatory part of Reconstruction. There is also the dispute between Douglas and Lincoln that Lincoln “desired intermarriage and racial mongrelization” (Oates 71), stated by Douglas.
He made it very clear that he didn’t want slavery to spread and would work to see that slavery didn’t spread. President Lincoln said if he could save the Union by keeping slavery where it already existed, he would do that. Saving the Union was his top priority. However, the South didn’t trust President Lincoln to keep his word.
During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency at the start of the 1860, an issue that had divided the nation was slavery. Lincoln’s election to presidency as a republic was not received well by the Southern slave states, as they thought that as a republican he was out to abolish slavery. In an effort to calm southern states and keep them from seceding from the United States, he attempts to ease them with his First Inaugural Address. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency.
President Lincoln early in the war realized that if the Union was to win the war against the Confederacy, that steps would need to be taken to return the seceded states back into the Union and stabilize the United States as one front to the rest of the world. President Lincoln also understood that part of the reason for secession of southern states was due to Federal Government infringing on state’s rights and to mitigate this issue he believed that a more moderate approach was needed for a quick a successful reconstruction to occur. Under Lincoln’s original plan, the Confederacy and its people would not be sought out for punishment, but as equals in a joint effort to return the United States to its prewar era. His plan for Reconstruction was
Abraham Lincoln has always been one of the most researched and talked about presidents in American history. Lincoln historically was known for his emancipation of the slaves and his leadership throughout the Civil War. Foner digs past what a normal student would learn within their average history textbook. Foner analyzes the year prior to his election as both the Illinois Senator and his election as president. This in depth analysis allows the reader to finally fully understand how Lincoln built his ideals and his thinking behind the Lincoln-Douglas debates for the Illinois Senate seat.
He was trying to keep the union together because the north wouldn’t be able to survive without the south. The north’s soldiers were dying out and Lincoln needed to win the war so his plan was to free the slaves so they would be able to help the north fight the south.
This speech served as an appeal to the citizens to stand up and be ready fight on the path to pursue the main goal of the Civil War – restoration of the Union. Lincoln used the war over slavery as a strategy that helped unite not only slaves, but also other people who strongly supported the abolition of slavery. Not only he was able to achieve the solidarity and cohesion of many citizens, but also increase their faith in the decisions and acts of the government. More people supported Lincoln because they truly believed that he wanted to protect their interests and that his decisions and strategies were essential in order to achieve the main objective of the Civil War. Thus,
While looking at a map of the electoral college vote (Doc. H), it is clear that the country was geographically divided, and this had the result of increased feelings of separation for the South, from the rest of the country. Lincoln realized that no more compromises could be made, and during a speech in Alton, Illonois, he tried to turn the issues away from the main topic which resulted in all the compromises, slavery (Doc. G). In a way he was making another compromise, but the South did not like it one bit, so they later succeed from the
With his party’s anti-slavery movement, the South knew that slavery would soon come to an end, so with that in mind, South Carolina decided to secede from the Union, other Southern states soon followed. This literally tore the Union apart. Lincoln knew that something would be done, in his house divided speech he said that one way or another slavery would either end all together or become a way of life, “Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and put it in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till
As the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln made very important decisions. One decision he had to make was on slavery. Lincoln felt that there was not much that he could do to stop slavery from occurring. In the South the economy was based off of slavery, in the North it was based on machines and industry. If he took away the South’s economy then that would be unfair. .
Lincoln promised that he would contain the blowout of slavery but he believed that the Union could not survive without the reliability of the slave-holding Border States so he proceeded carefully. While Lincoln was
By dividing the nation into two, the Civil War threatened to destroy it due to conflict in the South, leading to their secession. The northern and southern states disagreed on many issues, such as slavery, and the rights of states to secede from the Union. Lincoln could not let the South's secession destroy their nation. Therefore, Lincoln understood the gravity of the situation and quickly acted to preserve the Union, leading to changes in the economy due to changes in industrialization.
The North had an excellent Navy that had the ability to blockade things that were headed to the Southern states. The South desperately needed food, weapons, and ammunition but weren’t able to get their supplies because the North had blockades that stopped the supplies they needed. The North also had gun factories, shipyards, and coal readily available at anytime which puts them at a huge advantage over the South. They had more money and were just more advanced in their industry, which helped them win the civil war.
President Lincoln stated that: “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it,..., and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it.”. This quote clearly shows that the freedom of slaves was not his concern and unnecessary if it did not help the Union; as the result, slavery still exists if there is no war. Free slave from bondage should be a Great Emancipator’s primary goal and he will do his best to achieve it no matter what, but president Lincoln’s thought differed from that because all he cares was the Union. Although he had many times admitting himself an anti-slavery but his words and thoughts obviously prove that he is
Over hundreds of years America has had many presidents, some able to complete the tasks at hand, but many were not worthy of leading this nation. President Abraham Lincoln was one of the few who led the United States of America with great strength and courage. Abraham Lincoln was the best U.S. president because he had a great impact on ending slavery and he was one of the greatest natural strategists and leaders of all time. Abraham Lincoln is considered to be America 's wisest president. Abraham Lincoln, "proved to be a shrewd military strategist and a savvy leader during what became the costliest conflict ever fought on American soil."