Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was elected during a time where the country was severely territorial, divided politically and racially. During the four years President Lincoln was in office, there was a Civil War between the Union and Confederate states followed by a post-war Reconstruction period that stabilized the economy and federal government. In addition, under the leadership of President Lincoln, slavery was abolished in the United States after 400 years. Today, he is regarded by most as one of our greatest presidents, and as an exemplary leader, and resilient, too. Some refer to him as “The Great Emancipator,” an abolitionist, and even a savior (“American President”).
In “After Emancipation,” author Michael
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He says pre-Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln’s idea of compromise was relocating African Americans somewhere out of the country where they couldn’t be bothered, or be a bother. Vorenberg claims he only considered this idea in hopes to spruce up the Emancipation Proclamation idea (freeing the slaves to only send them to an island far away to die out) to his voters (120-123). To me, this initial option to colonize freed slaves outside of the States was so far-fetched and unrealistic, it only showed Lincoln’s desperation to quickly make a decision. However, doing this all for his own political gain shows little character and little remorse for those slaves who became soldiers, who fought and died in the Civil War. Vorenburg mentions that Lincoln saw things in that same perspective, causing him to second-guess an option that didn’t seem entirely though out to begin with.
After reading Vorenberg’s essay, one’s thoughts of President Lincoln and slavery could still go either way, good or bad. In some regards, Lincoln could be looked at as a realist. His intentions may have been to do what he thought any good leader would have done: to find some sort of common ground, micromanage, and end the war quickly. On the other hand, after Vorenberg exposed his true political aims, Lincoln’s image could be tarnished because in a way, he used slavery as