Abraham Lincoln was viewed by the American people as man who freed negro slaves. In his heart he felt slavery was unethical and morally wrong but there were certain things written in the Constitution that protected slavery. After the Civil War Lincoln was labeled the “Great Emancipator”.
Although some may have looked at Lincoln as the “Great Emancipator” his primary focus was to keep all the states in the union while using the Civil War as a tool to end what he felt was morally wrong and end slavery.
Prior to Lincoln being elected as President he was part of the “U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 and began serving his term the following year” (1). “In a three hour speech in Peoria, IL, Lincoln presented his stance on slavery and admitted
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The civil war was meant to be a white man’s war. The white southerners would wage war to make the confederacy a separate and independent nation free to promote slavery. The whites in the north took a stand to maintain the Union but not to free any slaves” (3).
“Those who deny freedom for others, cannot have it themselves.” The words of the 16th President who believed the “Civil War was necessary in order to bring all of the states back into the Union, abolishing slavery was a secondary goal at the time” (2). The Civil war went on for 48 months. “When the war ended in 1865 approximately 750,000 Americans lost their lives, including 50,000 black men. Four million people had been freed and the union was preserved” (3). “Lincoln thought preserving the union was his sacred duty as President” (2).
When reading about the “Great Emancipator” as they called Abraham Lincoln one might be conflicted in their feelings about him. His moral compass and his heart were in the right place when he stated his stance based on morals but yet Lincoln still had some harsh feelings towards blacks. When it came down to the grit of it all, he didn’t agree with slavery and what it stood for. He brain stormed different ways to go about ending slavery without going against the