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Abraham Lincoln

February 12th, 1809 (Hodgenville, Kentucky)- April 15th, 1865 (Washington D.C.)

Political Party: Republican Party (1854-1865) and National Union Party (1864-1865)

Terms: March 4th, 1861- April 15th, 1865 (one full term, Lincoln assassinated April 14th, 1865)

Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamilton (March 4th 1861- March 4th, 1865) and Andrew Johnson (March 4th, 1865- April 15th, 1865)

A clear thematic element to Abraham Lincoln’s noble and effective presidency was slavery and its legacies in America. This is an interesting assessment however, for Lincoln’s primary goals as president did not include abolishing slavery, though that was a major end result of his primary goal. His views on slavery in the United States were neutral, for the most part. As stated in his inaugural address, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with slavery where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” His perpetuating agenda lie in the reunion of the slipping nation. By his election in 1861, it was undeniable that the union was officially divided and apprehensive to one another's respective territories; it’s no wonder why this was a top priority for the president. With saving the union being his primary goal and slavery being closer to the bottom of the priority list, it is indeed extraordinary how well both of these crucial aspects were handled by President Lincoln. Perhaps the greatest establishment of this theme throughout Lincoln’s presidency was his famed Emancipation Proclamation. This great document proclaimed all slaves living in bondage in states rebelling against the union (1863) “forever free” from their master’s grip. This proclamation was followed shortly thereafter by the thirteenth amendment, which outlawed slavery outright, completely abolishing the slavery institution. Contrary to the thirteenth amendment, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was not known for its immediate effectiveness. In short, it was not entirely legal to abolish slavery outright in the states in rebellion. Lincoln himself regarded his document as “an act of justice,” and calling for “the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of almighty God,” but not necessarily a formal legislature. Until the passage of the thirteenth amendment in 1865, there was some controversy surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation. Many slaves took matters into their own hands and ran away from their plantations, knowing they were safe under the proclamation. They would escape to the northern territories and join Union army regiments, avenging the many years of pain and sorrow that their master’s had stripped from their backs. Despite the controversy arising, the Emancipation Proclamation provoked a much stronger moral cause in the North than in the South. In addition to preserving the Union, the North had committed itself to freeing the slaves, bringing about diplomatic support from foreign nations such as the British working classes; they were more determined than ever to oppose the intervention of slavery in order to spell its ultimate doom. The moral position of the south was correspondingly diminished; a big step in the right direction for Unionists. The Emancipation Proclamation did all this and more to support the Union cause and bring about integral importance to the theme, slavery and its legacies in North America. Another factor of Lincoln’s presidency which ties strongly back to the theme is the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The bureau was intended to be something like a welfare agency. It’s main tenets were to provide food, clothing, medical care, and education to recently freed blacks and white refugees. Its greatest success was education, all-in-all teaching roughly 200,000 blacks how to read. The motivation for literacy among freedmen was great, partly in order to close the gap between them and ordinary white men, and partly to read the Word of God. In many classrooms, cross-generational learning would take place, having a seventy-five year old grandmother and a six year old daughter in the same classroom. Passion for freedom and equality does not die with age. On the other hand, a place where the bureau was meager was in land distribution. The bureau was supposed to lend forty-acre tracts of formerly-Confederate land to freed blacks, however little land actually made it into black hands. Often, town administrators would collaborate with local farmers and work to cajole former slaves into signing labor contracts. This practice is similar to the idea of sharecropping, a process in which former slaves would come back and work for their masters, doing the same work that they would do when they were slaves, and get paid. They would not get paid much to begin with, and then their “employers” would cheat them out of their money by overpricing normal living necessities, such as food and shelter. While the bureau might have failed at some points in its existence, it was still fundamental to the theme of slavery legacy and contributed to the overall development of having a nation of equality unlike any other.

Abraham Lincoln, born in Kentucky and raised in Illinois, grew up in the lower class. Formal education ran scarce in his rural environment. Lincoln estimates that he received a total of one year of formal education. Despite being the least educated president in history, he is ranked as the greatest president by many historians and civilians, ranked higher, even, than founding fathers Jefferson and Washington. His accomplishments far exceed those of his predecessors and most of his successors in presidential office. Because of his superior perseverance and drive to overcome major obstacles such as disunion from sectional differences, the dominating institution of slavery in the south, and the brutality of unforgiving Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln earned an A+ for his five-year time in the presidential chair. His outstanding initiative and use of practical executive action to stabilize domestic and foreign affairs makes him one of the greatest presidents of all time, if not the single greatest man to ever sit in the oval office.

Spring of 1861 was a threatening time for the nation. On the eve of Civil War, President Buchanan was more than willing to step down from his position as Commander and Chief and pass on the duty to another poor soul to meddle in. Taking office on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln indeed held lofty goals to be accomplished within one term. However, with the current state of the “Union” it is difficult for an inaugurated president not to establish fervent goals as to how they plan to handle a nation drifting toward disunion. Some of his major goals include “let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” In short, he wishes to protect the union from further grievances, prevent or make easy the waging of war, and handle foreign and domestic policy in a practical way, using his executive powers and his persuasive manner in Congress. Indeed, an interesting observation is that none of these goals relate directly to slavery. Lincoln, in his wisdom, understood that with unity comes shared ideals and principles, and recognized that once the major dividing issue was mended that other mismatched schools of thought would unite similarly. He recognized slavery as a predominant issue, but his first and foremost priority was much more encompassing in the greater need for civil unity. It is within these goals which Lincoln’s shining success seems to be most prevalent. He had lofty goals, this much is undeniable, but the fantastic truth in the matter is that he accomplished his seemingly impossible goals with flying colors, and then went on to conquer more challenging issues within society, such as the institution of slavery. Lincoln’s lofty goals were met by flourishing accomplishment, and for this he is best known. His spirit and ingenuity for the good of the people is a true symbolic representation of what America deserves and needs for a leader.

Congress, in its 37th and 38th sessions, were not by any means bipartisan. The house seemed to swing openly to the right hand side, that is, the Republican Party seemed to dominate the field. The republicans won by a landslide in the electoral vote in 1860, with a total of 219 republican votes and 84 democratic votes. The National Union Party jumped ahead in 1864 with 212 votes to the democrat’s 21. Lincoln was indeed able to pull together a solid majority in Congress during his time. That being said, the strong relationship that Lincoln shared with his Congress was an interesting one. With the situation of current disunity, Lincoln had to often design certain legislature that seemed somewhat offset by comparison. The fact that Congress backed him on nearly all of these shows that they truly understood that the actions proposed by Lincoln were necessary in order to restore the union and bring balance to the unsteady forces of the divided nation. For example, when Lincoln chose to initiate a blockade on confederate shore lines and disperse federal funds without the consent of Congress, it would seem like tyranny. However, these vital decisions were easily made, thanks to the largely one-sided development of Congress and the trust they had in their Commander and Chief.

A situation that took place during Lincoln’s presidency which had the most positive outcome was the Civil War. The positive outcome of the war was that it ended all forms of slavery in America forever. This happened through the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the overpowering and recurring defeat of the Confederates by the Union armies throughout the war, and the writing of the thirteenth amendment into law in late 1865. The Union had a great advantage over the Confederate army from the beginning. They had more manpower and a stronger infrastructure. While the south had the superior leadership of General Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson, at the end of the day it takes more than two people to win a war. A fundamental move made by the Union in the earlier parts of the war was the undertaking of an effective naval blockade of southern ports. This prevented the rebels from obtaining much-needed supplies from abroad. Also, the firing at Fort Sumter (which initiated the war), shows how careless a restless nation in conflict can be. All-in-all, the utter lack of manpower closer to the end of war is what ultimately caused the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. For example, the historic combat in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania brought together a rather uneven match-up, where over 90,000 Union troops were met by some 75,000 Confederate soldiers. Less than 1/5 of the Union soldiers were killed, whereas he Confederates lost over 19,000 soldiers before surrendering. The Battle at Gettysburg, being General Lee's final chance at redemption, proved to be a fundamental victory for the north and resulted in the downward spiral of Confederate spirits. The Civil War proved to have the most positive outcome of abolishing slavery by great successes of the Union in wartime. Obviously the war had negative effects, which is why, on the other hand, the Civil War proved to be an event during Lincoln's presidency which had the most negative outcome. The total amount of casualties suffered by American soldiers was roughly 776,000, making the Civil War the second bloodiest American war to date (WWII being the most bloody, with over a million casualties). Another negative effect of the war was the still-prominent rebellion in the south for decades following the surrender in April 1865. The introduction of sharecropping is a great example of this sort of rebellion. The south simply seemed unable to give up its precious institution of slavery. When the south realized it could still rebel and get away with it (for the most part) through sharecropping and other means of reenslavement of blacks, it seemed to rekindle a sort of rebellious spirit which would not cease for decades. The Civil War showed that even an international powerhouse can lose its fervor to sectional differences and be caught in the midst of one of the most violent wars to ever take place. The Civil War was a great thing, yet it was also tragic.

Abraham Lincoln performed many wonderful deeds throughout his presidency which were strongly influential to future generations. However, one that outplays them all is his famed Emancipation Proclamation. While having little effect on lives in the immediate time following its publication, the Emancipation Proclamation proved to be one of the greatest documents ever written to contribute to the equality and continuity of humankind. Written with greatly unbiased motives, Lincoln took a practical and logical stance as to why all humans are created equal and slavery should be an intolerable institution among a nation. This document greatly influenced future administrations because it was written and delivered in such a way that was unbiased, logical, and precise, stating the goals and motives behind his stance and making its content feasible and understandable. Slavery was abolished outright because it was simply illogical and it defied all human rights ever established by man. What the Emancipation Proclamation did directly was abolish slavery and further enunciate human rights, what it did indirectly was underline how a government simply cannot function when divided against itself. The document proved that logical thinking is the best way to settle disputes between viewpoints and in order for society to function properly it must follow suit and yield to the precedents of human rights and global equality.

At the end of Abraham Lincoln's term, America climbed out of war, settled sectional differences, redefined the American way of life, and much more. These accomplishments alone are the consequences of President Lincoln's superior leadership in wartime as well as his logical thought process. America was much better off by the time Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 than when he took office in 1861. Over the course of four years, he accomplished so much. Lincoln was undeniably a great man, and his quality of leadership will be renowned for decades to come.

Bibliography

Degregorio, William A.. "Abraham Lincoln." The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. 6th edition ed. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, Inc., 2005. Print.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print.