Abraham Lincoln Reconsidered Sparknotes

In David Donald’s book, Lincoln Reconsidered, he investigates problems about different interpretations of Abraham Lincoln. The image of Abraham Lincoln has been shrouded in myths and folklore. In chapter two in Donald’s book, he provides different folklores of Lincoln. One of the great folklores about Lincoln is that he was viewed as the “Great Emancipator” of the slaves. Lincoln was viewed by many of the slaves as a mythological demigod. In Donald’s book, he quoted an ex-slave stating that he thought Abe Lincoln was next to the Lord. The most important thing about Lincoln and his era that needs to be reconsidered is abolitionism.
Even though Lincoln believed that slavery was a moral wrong, he was not an abolitionist. When Lincoln was elected President, he vowed to contain the institution of slavery, not to remove it. Lincoln only enacted the Emancipation Proclamation out of military desperation. As a fundamental political principle, Lincoln rejected ideological labels. Once Lincoln became President, he was not able to act as he, the man, wished to. He was not the President of the antislavery movement. He considered himself

However, as President it became his painful duty to ensure that no one took legal steps to uproot the institution. A best example of this was when Generals John Fremont and David Hunter issued edicts liberating the slaves in their military commands. Even though Lincoln as the man supported these edicts, Lincoln the President overruled the edicts issued by both commanders. Lincoln believed that their hasty actions would have cost the Union the support of the loyal slaveholders of Kentucky. If Kentucky seceded, then the other neutral states might have followed. If they joined the Southern States then the Union might have lost the Civil War. If Maryland seceded then Lincoln and the capitol would have been surrounded by hostile enemies and the capitol might have been