Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator

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Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as “The Great Emancipator,” His legacy as the man who freed the slaves, and the savior of the Union is one that fails to be forgotten. He is thought of as a hero, and one of the few to tackle slavery, a problem that has existed in many parts of the world at one time or another. Although Lincoln is credited with ending slavery, his political motives for confronting this issue and his personal views do not make him worthy of all the recognition he receives; the driven abolitionists and daring slaves deserve a much greater portion of the credit. 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 …show more content…

Everywhere in Illinois Lincoln endorsed racial inequality, but in the northern parts of the state would he assert the equality of blacks and whites. Stephen Douglas claimed the same thing saying that Lincoln stood up for negro equality, but when it came to the southern counties he “disregarded the doctrine and declared that there always must be a superior and inferior race.” In his inaugural address Lincoln promised to enforce the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, while at the same time “provide by law for enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that ‘The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of the citizens in the several States” (Oakes). Lincoln’s racial views and these contradictory views do not support the name the “Great

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