I. Abraham Lincoln – The leader who shaped modern America
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th, 1809 and died on April 15th, 1865. He was the 16th President of the United States of America. He served as president of the country from 1861 to 1865 and one of the leaders of the Union representing states that against slavery during the American Civil War.
He grew up in a poor family. Thus, the man was known as a self-educated person. Despite his living condition, he then became a lawyer, a state legislator in Illinois, and a House of Representatives’ one-term member.
As a family man, he was known for being an affectionate husband and father of four children.
Lincoln was in the time of the American Civil War. Hence, as a president, he concentrated mainly on the dimensions of military and politic. He tried to find ways to end wars in the hope that the country would be reunified after the secession of the Northern and the Southern States.
His Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, which approved the act of freeing 3 million slaves and abolishing slavery altogether. One of Lincoln’s famous sayings is “I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Because of his effort and achievement, Abraham Lincoln has been honored and remembered as the "Great Emancipator".
Unfortunately, on April 14th, 1865, just six days after the Civil War ended (with the victory of the Union), Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate’s sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth.
II. History context
TIME TABLE
4/3/1861: The division of the country into the Union (the North) and the Confederate (the South)
1861-1865: The American Civil war
9/4/1865: The Confederate surrendered the Union
14/4/1865: Abraham Lincoln was assa...
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... John Wilkes Booth]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from [Untitled portrait of John Wilkes Booth]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.crimefilenews.com/2011/08/john-wilkes-booth-came-to-aid-of-his.html
[Untitled portrait of the Secretary of State William Seward]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln25.html
[Untitled quote postcard of Abraham Lincoln]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.zazzle.com/i_am_naturally_anti_slavery_slavery_is_wrong_quote_postcard-239099455255000566
[Untitled symbol of the American Civil War]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-american-civil-war-image26537787
Walker, A. W. Cotton Pickers [Online image]. Retrieved December 9, 2013, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:'Cotton_Pickers',_oil_painting_on_panel_by_William_Aiken_Walker.jpg
Most Americans know John Wilkes Booth as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Shot at a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865. However, the names of the conspirators that surrounded Wilkes Booth are relatively unknown, especially that of Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, a mother and boardinghouse proprietor, was arrested and tried for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln along with her son, John Surratt. Pleas from her family, lawyer, and fellow conspirators did not allow her to escape her fate, and she was hanged for her crimes on July 7th, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln is known as the President who helped to free the slaves, lead the Union to victory over the confederates in the American Civil War, preserve the union of the United States and modernize the economy. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued through Presidential constitutional authority on January 1st, 1863, declared that all slaves in the ten remaining slave states were to be liberated and remain liberated. The Emancipation Proclamation freed between three and four million slaves, however, since it was a Presidential constitutional authority and not though congress, the Emancipation Proclamation failed to free slaves in Border States like Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. Essentially, states that were under Federal Government and loyal to the Union did not have their slaves liberated; Lincoln even stating “When it took effect in January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves.” Some argue Lincoln issued this Proclamation in an attempt to satisfy the demands of Radical Republicans, members of a group within the Republican Party. Radical Republicans were a group of politicians who strongly...
Lincoln became president in January of 1860. During this time, many of the Southern states began to secede, plunging the United States into a Civil War. At the beginning, the war was about state’s rights, but it eventually became about slave rights. In the end, the Union won, America was reunited, and the slaves were freed. Many say that Lincoln was the Great Emancipator because of this act, but did you know he didn’t want the freed slaves to have the same rights as whites? From the time he was involved in the political realm to the day he was assassinated Lincoln was just another politician. If he was really the Great Emancipator he would have been more focused on the slaves than the Union. He also wouldn’t have issued the Emancipation
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.
Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...
One of Lincoln’s most famous quotes is “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” This describes his presidency well- focusing on maintaining the Union. In the beginning, Lincoln tried to stay out of sensitive affairs involving the North and South in an attempt to keep them together, promising the South little interference. Despite this, he played a key role in passing the Thirteenth Amendment, doing whatever it takes to end slavery for good and ending the Civil War.
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 during the civil war, as main goal to win the war. Some historians argued that it was based on feelings towards slaves because not only it freed slaves in the South; it was also a huge step for the real abolition of slavery in the United States. While other historians argued that it was a military tactic because it strengthened the Union army, because the emancipated slaves were joining the Union thus providing a larger manpower than the Confederacy . The Emancipation Proclamation emancipated slaves only in the Confederacy and did not apply to the Border-states and the Union states.
President Lincoln has had numerous achievements, such as ending slavery, modernizing the economy, and preserving the Union. Lincoln is famously known for ending slavery. He issued the Emancipation of Proclamation. The presidential proclamation was issued during the American Civil War. Lincoln stated in his speech, "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of states, and henceforward shall be free."
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation; as the country headed toward the third year of the civil war. This proclamation stated: “that all persons held as slaves are, and hence forward shall be free,” however this only applied to the states that were no longer part of the union, leaving slavery untouched in other states. However the Emancipation Proclamation was needed to benefit African Americans.
The morals and beliefs on slavery came to him from his parents who went as far as joining a Baptist congregation that separated itself from a church due to its acceptance of slavery. On November 6, 1860, Abe became the sixteenth president of the United States of America. The southern states knew of his disapproval of slavery so they seceded from the Union, in fear that they would lose their right to have slaves. After many bloody battles, the Union came out triumphant in the Civil War, a fight over slavery and an effort to make America one again. As a result of loathing towards the president and his verdict to outlaw slavery in the country, on April 14, 1861, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater. For the heroic choice to free the African Americans of the United States, Abraham Lincoln died for what he believed was right.
When the Civil War was approaching its third year, United States President Abraham Lincoln was able to make the slaves that were in Confederate states that were still in rebellion against the Union forever free. Document A states that on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and that every enslaved person residing in the states that were “In rebellion against the United States” were free and that the Executive Government of the United States and that the military and naval authority were to recognize them and could not act against them at all. Although the Proclamation did not free every slave in the Confederacy, it was able to release about 3.5 million slaves. Along with freeing all of those slaves, it also stated that African American men were allowed to enlist with the Union and aid them in the war.
The issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th amendment are two of Lincoln’s most influential documents enacted during his presidency. The Emancipation Proclamation “...declared over three million slaves in the rebel states of the Confederacy to be ‘thenceforward and forever free’...”(Guelzo). This action eventually took the country to the final abolition of slavery when the 13th amendment was introduced, declaring: “Neither slavery
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th in Kentucky. He was the 16th president of U.S. He tried to preserve the unity of the United States. Lincoln was the president at the time of the Civil War. He started the Reconstruction plan to readmit seceded states. His stance becomes more about slavery than the Union. He took steps to abolish slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1863 in January. The Proclamation declared that the slaves in rebellious states would be free. He also influenced the 13th amendment banning slavery. Lincoln was slain in the presidential box at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes. He did not live to see his plan on slavery become an
Lincoln published the Emancipation Proclamation which launched the development of freedom for American slaves. Also the document allowed black soldiers to fight for the union. He delivered a series of marvelous and outstanding speeches including the House Divided Speech, the Cooper Union Address, the First Inaugural Address, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural Address. “Abraham Lincoln is one of the reasons that slavery was abolished.”
April 14th, 1865 was a particularly heart-wrenching day in American politics. Abraham Lincoln, one of the United States' greatest presidents, was assassinated in Washington, DC. Since then, the country went into a prolonged period of mourning for the one who abolished slavery and preserved the fractured nation during the Civil War. The news of his death reverberated around the world and proved to be a test for the country and its constitutional plan of succession.