How Did Abraham Lincoln Deserve The Name Of The Great Emancipator

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Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States and was one of the most important figures during the Civil War. The Civil War was a combat that occurred from 1861 to 1865 over the idea of slavery and states’ rights. The war almost ruined the country and if it did not happen, today might not be the same. When Lincoln ran for President, most people did not think he was fit because he came from a poor background. Thus, he fought hard to make everyone see him as an equal and that he can have the power to become President. When Lincoln ran for office in 1860, he did not have the intention of ending slavery. However, during the years of the war, he uses it to his advantage so that he can defeat the Confederacy and to win favors of the …show more content…

At the beginning of the war, there was another Act that was passed by the Congress, the First Confiscation Act. The First Confiscation Act was passed to allow the court to confiscate any property being used to support the Confederates, this including slaves. The Act also states that any slaves that entered army lines of the Union, would be considered contraband and are set free to work for the Union. In one of his diaries, he states, “I have no desire to see blacks integrated into white society as they could never be taught to be of equal intelligence of compare the white man. A black does not have the inherent intelligence of a white man. But I find myself needing to free black not as a matter of emancipation, but to cripple the Southern Economy to put a quick end to this war which has divided and crippled this nation” (Tindall). According to this excerpt of his diary, he continue to support the idea of slavery and believes that blacks were not as smart as the whites. He only proceeded with the emancipation because he wanted the economy in the South to fail so that the Civil War can end. I believe that this is a positive idea because the war ended. However, because of his morals and he only wanted the Union to be great again, this act can be seen as selfish. Thus, Lincoln does not deserve this nickname because he issued the …show more content…

This is because they see the idea of him trying to end slavery in the Southern states and that should give him credibility. Some will argue that Lincoln had a lot of pressure on him from the abolitionists and Radical Republicans, due to the announcement of the proclamation. The abolitionists want him to free the slaves, but on the other hand, the Republicans want Lincoln to allow slavery for the South. So Lincoln did what he thought was a good idea. He issued the Proclamation and even though it was unpopular to the majority, he gained a lot of support from the