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Abraham Lincoln's Accomplishments

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When reflecting upon the past, it is easy to romanticize events for nostalgia’s sake. When people reminisce about a military general, they discuss the great general, renowned for outwitting his foes. When discussing an enemy’s former leader, people tell of the formidable ruler, wise and powerful, unable to best their strength and resilience. As a result, it is difficult to study history as it happened rather than how it has been obscured and exaggerated over time. Although there are undoubtedly heroes whose names and accomplishments should be remembered, These same icons may not have been perceived as such during their time. One such example is the great and benevolent Abraham Lincoln, remembered for his great feats and benevolent leadership. …show more content…

Discuss sources that you’ll use to make the point and round out the thesis. Like any politician, Lincoln had views on issues and therefore, had adversaries. Lincoln began his political career in the Illinois state legislature in 1834 as a member of the whig party. He aligned himself with the Whig party because of his beliefs in government backed infrastructure and protective tariffs. Throughout his time in the Illinois legislature, he began forming his opinions on the institution of slavery. He saw the institution as a hinderance to the development of the american economy, rather than a moral injustice. After serving the state of Illinois for four years, Lincoln took a hiatus from politics and began to practice law. It wasn’t until 1847 that …show more content…

It was a fierce campaign that contained seven great debates held throughout the state of Illinois. Though Lincoln lost the race, these debates and their transcripts were passed and republished throughout the country familiarizing his name to the american people. Along with this, but the slavery centered debates seemed to foreshadow the issue’s significance in Lincoln’s approaching presidency. His performance in the Lincoln-Douglas debates bought Lincoln popularity among the Republican Party Leaders and decided to make an attempt at the presidency in the 1860 election. Lincoln’s humble but determined following went into the republican convention of 1860 almost certain that Lincoln would lose the nomination to the frontrunner, William H. Seward. Seward was a former New York governor and veteran senator. He was actually like Lincoln in many ways, a former Whig who strongly opposed the spread of slavery. Going into the convention, Seward was almost certain that he would win the party nomination, however, Lincoln’s determined and growing support base was able to sway the decision in his favor. The party ultimately decided that Lincoln was able to represent their position in a strong and compelling way but wasn’t perceived as such a radical as Seward was. The democrats also assembled

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212 Words | 1 Pages

The election of 1860 was an election to decide between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as the 16th president. Lincoln was not a fan favorite, but he won the election, due to Electoral College system. Lincoln made his position on slavery very clear. He wanted to end slavery. The people in the south opposed to the idea of abolishing slavery.

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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.

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On the other hand, Douglas, the candidate for the Democrats, was a firm supporter of Popular Sovereignty, which did not garner him many votes among the North and South, eventually leading to him only getting the support of one state during the electoral votes. The candidate's views on slavery divided the votes among the states, with the ideas that had Lincoln allowing him to collect the majority of the votes in the Northern states, while the efforts of Douglas, Bell, and Breckinrigde split the votes in the South. The division in the views on slavery culminated in the eventual election of Lincoln as our 16th president. “While historians remain divided over precisely when the Civil War became an ‘irrepressible conflict,’ the results of the election of 1860, as evidenced by the actions of seven slaveholding states, clearly shows that Lincoln's election only further aggravated existing sectional tensions. Even if the election did not directly push the nation into civil war, its results clearly hastened the South's journey toward disunion.”

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Around then, legislators were picked by state councils and the Democrats could take control of the Illinois governing body. In any case, Lincoln could take this annihilation and transform it into triumph two years after the fact. He took the transcripts of the open deliberations and distributed them in book structure. The national consideration on the verbal confrontations conveyed him to the consideration of the Republican Party and earned him the selection to keep running for president in 1860. Once more, he confronted Stephen Douglas running for the Southern Democratic gathering.

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456 Words | 2 Pages

First, Abraham Lincoln debated on many issues, and a major issue that he and Stephen Douglass debated on was the issue of slavery. Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong. While on the other hand, Douglass believed that slavery should be ruled by popular sovereignty. Lincoln’s belief led many Northerners to vote for him. But only a few Northerners and Southerners voted for Douglass because popular sovereignty was a complicated process.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Lincoln was running for public office against Fredrick Douglass. Lincoln and Douglas were far apart on certain issues, such as the expansion of slavery, equal rights, and the role of the national government. Lincoln opposed it, but he also wrote about fugitive slaves, I will bite lip and remain soundless. He would be inflexible about the stopping of slavery expansion, and at the same thought, he knew that we would be hypocrites, if we allow slavery expansion to continue. He firmed believed they would have people doubting our sincerity and our love for liberty (Fonder, 495).

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This was due to the fact that “the fate of the Union was at stake” as its candidates’ possible elections may lead a large group to become angry (“Why was the U.S. presidential election of 1860 important?” 1). It was an election between candidates Abraham Lincoln for the Republicans, John Bell nominated by the Constitutional Union Party, Stephen Douglas representing the Northern Democrats, and John C. Breckinridge as the Southern Democrat’s candidate. The various parties debated about topics including: a national tariff, a transcontinental railroad, and most importantly, slavery. It is vital to note that as a Republican centered in the North, “Lincoln insisted that he had always hated slavery, and committed himself politically to the extinction of slavery” (Guelzo 4). This strictly contradicted the Democrats who relied and supported slavery since they were mostly in the South.

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What were the key issues at stake during the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates, and how did they shape the nation's future? The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 are pivotal movements in American political history. Some people believe that it was mainly about the state's rights, while others say it was more about slavery. This was a big deal in American history because it changed the future of the U.S. by settling the state's rights and abolishing slavery. This debate was about two big-time politicians who were running for the Senate seat in Illinois in 1858.

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The issue of popular sovereignty, rights of self-government, moral justification of slavery and economic freedom led to the emergence of Abraham Lincoln as an outspoken leader in the Republican Party. He began to be a larger voice to the spread of slavery in the West and other new territories. His skeptical belief in the Democrat’s justification of the spread of slavery led to his renewed interest in national

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761 Words | 4 Pages

Abraham Lincoln often seemed to contradict himself on the subject of slavery. This was most often the case during his campaigns for office. The campaign for Senate that put him in the national spotlight ended in a loss perhaps in part due to his opponent, a pro-slavery states’ rights advocate by the name of Stephen Douglas, bringing attention to these contradictions. Illinois was divided on the issue of slavery in 1858. Northern Illinois had a large abolitionist movement while the southern half of the state had a majority that supported slavery.

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Lincoln’s journey to the presidency is less talked about than his actions as president, most books only mentioning that he had to run twice before he won the second election. That is most of what people know, what Stamped:Remix tells us is the ways and platforms he used to win the election after losing the first time. Lincoln went up against Stephen Douglas in the 1858 Senate election while taking the side of the abolitionists, he got steamrolled in this election, but his running stirred up the political scene in the US, paving the way for a presidential campaign. After his failed senate campaign he started to preach that slavery needed to end, but said so in a way that would get the major voting groups on his side, “Lincoln started with a shift and started to preach that slavery needed to end–but not because of the human horror. Because if labor was free, what exactly would poor white people expect to do to make money?

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After the 1860 election, Lincoln made a firm public decision not to accept the expansion of slavery into the territories. In other words, Lincoln 's early position as president was that, slavery could remain in current slave states but could not expand to new states or territories. Although, Lincoln’s views on slavery often shifted some of them seemed to contradict one another. On another note, current slave states could vouch to keep things the way that they are but, Lincoln still felt that if a nation was divided it would be almost impossible to survive. Lincoln 's views at this time were politically motivated, and they focused on ending the war and preserving the Union.

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Lincoln worked many different types of jobs in Illinois such as fighting in the Blackhawk War, being a postmaster, and practicing law. Lincoln was very little known around the community and the state

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1103 Words | 5 Pages

After Lincoln was elected and began his presidential reign, the country began to fracture and soon went into war. Lincoln had a tough situation as President because the South seceded from the Union as a direct result of his policies and favoritism to the Union and North, which then meant he would have to lead the North to victory over the military superior South in order to preserve and repair his country’s Union (OI). Southerners did not like Lincoln for a variety of reasons, however they opposed his presidential campaign and rule mainly due to his opposition of slavery, which they felt was a violation and direct attack on their rights and way of life (Doc 7). Lincoln believed slavery was immoral and wrong, so one of his initial contributions to the political environment of America was to proclaim that slavery would, “...become extinct for all time to come, if we but readopted the policy of the fathers by restricting it to the limits it has already covered-restricting it from new Territories” (Doc 1). Lincoln’s Presidency was controversial, and his controversial but effective actions as President would lead the Union to victory and eventually restore the nation to its unified state at the end of the Civil

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1309 Words | 6 Pages

His work penetrates American life daily. The laws put in place by President Lincoln before and after the Civil War have, impact the interpretation of laws in today’s courts. Fundamental American ideals was expanded and redefined by his very words: “Nowhere in the world is presented a government of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest and poorest amongst us are held out the highest privileges and positions. The present moment finds me at the White House, yet there is as good a chance for your children as there was for my father's.”

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