Abraham Lincoln's Accomplishments

Throughout history and all around the world, great leaders have emerged to lead great nations. Even today, these leaders and their motives are studied and/or praised for their attempt to lift their nation state to greatness. Although not all would change things for the better one who would, was the the 16th President of The United States, Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln served as President from March of 1861 until his assassination in April of 1865 (Hubbard, 1998). He was a statesman and a lawyer who was not unversed in politics. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War and in doing so, preserved the Union, strengthened the federal government, and abolished slavery (Vorenberg, 2004). President Abraham Lincoln transformed the state

2002). The issue of slavery was one that was affecting the entire country, and threatening to dismantle everything America fought for. Therefore, to Lincoln, slavery was a national issue that threatened the whole country rather than a state issue and needed to be addressed by the national government. Although Lincoln himself did not believe in slavery, he also believed that the movement of the abolitionists were a threat as well to the nation as a whole, he said:

“We must not disturb slavery in the states where it exists, because the Constitution, and the peace of the country both forbid us – We must not withhold an efficient fugitive slave law, for the constitution demands it – But we must, by a national policy, prevent the spread of slavery into new territories, or free states, because the constitution does not forbid us, and the general welfare does demand such prevention.” (Abraham Lincoln, (September 16–17, 1859), Notes for Speech in Kansas and

This order granted, “freedom to the slaves in the Confederate States if the States did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863. In addition, under this proclamation, freedom would only come to the slaves if the Union won the war.” (Jones, S. 2017). The proclamation's ultimate goal, Lincoln said, was not universal emancipation but the restoration of “the Constitution relation between The United States, and each of the States, and people thereof.”(Lincoln, 1863) By him only imposing the emancipation on those who have rejected the Constitution, Lincoln could claim to have held true to his belief and principle of not interfering with slavery. However, the Confederates did not see this as so; tensions continued to rise as they believed that this was just more proof that Lincoln would have abolished slavery at a national level had they stayed a part of the Union (Jones, S. 2017). The Emancipation Proclamation was a strategic move by Lincoln to establish the abolition of slavery in order to deter intervention by Britain and France; because England could not morally recognize the South as independent nor intervene in the war without being diplomatically hypocritical (Whitlum-Cooper,