“The best way to predict the future is to create it” -Abraham Lincoln. This quote personifies Lincoln wonderfully; he saw a clear view of the future he wanted and believed in, and set off to accomplish it. This ambitious attitude made him a great president and leader. Abraham Lincoln was the most influential president in US history because he abolished slavery, fought the Civil war to preserve the union, and was a phenomenal public speaker due to his self-taught background. Abraham Lincoln accomplished one of the biggest feats in the United States history: abolishing slavery, which was one of his main goals he set out to complete. On January 1, 1863 Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation, reshaping the cause of the civil war from saving the union to abolishing slavery (“Abraham”). …show more content…
Lincoln absolutely hated slavery and wanted to stop the spread of it as well. He hated the thinking of Stephen A. Douglas, the Democrat he was running against for president. Douglas was simply indifferent to the spread of slavery to new territories, such as Michigan (“Abraham”). Lincoln fought back to stop the spread of slavery stating, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe the Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free” (Current). This quote by Lincoln shows his viewpoint of the spread of slavery, and believes the government cannot have some areas with slavery and some without, but rather make it uniform for everyone. Some say that Lincoln supported the fugitive slave act during the compromise of 1850, which allowed slave owners to use bloodhounds to track down runaway slaves (Greenberg). Although this assumption is not true, Lincoln had to give a little to receive a little. He allowed slave owners to fetch back their own “property” but also was allowed to ban slavery in Washington D.C. Lincoln stayed out of the slave’s return and stated “there