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//Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809-April 15, 1865) Republican Terms of office:1861-1865 Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865); Andrew Johnson (1865)//

Although Lincoln did not always make the most popular decisions, one has to take into account what was going on during his presidency. Lincoln was faced with many troubles, such as the separation of the Union and slavery. By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation he did what was just, instead of what was popular. However, the Enrollment Act was a desperate move with harsh consequences. Even though Lincoln made unpopular decisions, he was, for the most part, able to achieve his goals. For these reasons I give Lincoln a B+ for his terms as president.

When Lincoln took office, his main goal was to keep the union together. He did not want states to be seceding for, he felt it was unnecessary. He quoted the bible saying, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In achieving this goal Lincoln was not successful...at first. Initially, the southern states seceded from the Union, thus causing a civil war. This was not something Lincoln predicted. As the war went on, Lincoln thought of another goal he would like to achieve: abolishing slavery in the southern states. With this goal, he was successful. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation which put an end to slavery in the south. Although southerner’s did not fully abide by this rule, slavery was, for all intensive purposes, over with. Overall, I do believe, considering the time period, that Lincoln was quite successful in achieving his goals. Although the Union separated, they eventually came together once again.

Lincoln and Congress had a very interesting relationship. During the war, Congress was not always completely assembled to pass laws. Because of this, Lincoln often took matters into his own hands, like stopping military action in 1851. Congress had not agreed to this. Lincoln also suspended the writ of habeas corpus without congressional consent. Nowadays, Lincoln's relationship with Congress would not be considered good, it may even be called unconstitutional. Back during Lincoln's presidency, Congress, for the most part agreed with everything Lincoln did regardless of whether or not they had approved it before he took action. Since Congress peacefully acquiesced with Lincoln's decisions, it showed that they trusted him. Because of the congressional trust for Lincoln, I would say that he and Congress had a fairly nice relationship.

The Emancipation Proclamation, although very controversial, had the most positive outcome in the long run out of any decision Lincoln made during his presidency. In the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln stated, “all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” In short, he freed the slaves. Although they were not completely free for a long time after, the Emancipation Proclamation set a precedent for future civil rights movement and reaped some immediate benefits. It gave former salves the right to fight in the Union army. This gave the Union 180,000 more men. The slaves now fighting for the Union ensured a Union victory at the end of the civil war. One must look at the big picture to completely see how beneficial the Emancipation Proclamation truly is. It tied the issue of slavery directly to the war, and ensured a Northern win. If the North had not won the war, life in America would have been quite different. But, because of the Emancipation Proclamation allowing blacks to fight, the North did win. With this win, slavery slowly began to become abolished. The Emancipation Proclamation was also the first document that recognized slaves as people. This was a great achievement for the African Americans. Overall, the Emancipation Proclamation brought small positive outcomes that contributed to an optimistic future.

Lincoln’s decision to sign The Enrollment Act of 1863 had the most negative outcome. On paper, the Enrollment Act was just meant to gain soldiers for the army fighting in the civil war. This act forced those men from ages twenty to forty five to fight for their country. Essentially, those who were able to fight had to fight. This angered citizens who felt that they should not be forced into fighting. To appeal to those citizens who did not want to fight, the Enrollment Act stated that if one did not wish to fight, he could hire a substitute for three hundred dollars. This also caused controversy. The poorer men of America were not able to pay to hire a substitute. They were still forced to fight. Poor men called the civil war, “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight”. Riots broke out all over the country; the most violent were in New York City. The rioters cut telegraph lines, burned offices, and destroyed railroads. The Union brought in troops to try and stop the riots. Ultimately the disagreement over the Enrollment Act led to divisions in the North. This created a struggle for northern unity during the last years of the civil war.

One very important decision made by the Lincoln administration was the decision to build railroads. Lincoln believed that railroads would connect the nation from east to west, thus bringing a sense of unity. In 1862 Congress passed the Pacific Railway Acts. These acts selected the 32nd parallel as the first transcontinental railroad route. They also gave very large pieces of lands to two major companies so that they could begin to build the railroad. This decision was vital to the expansion of America. Because of railroads, America was able to rely on domestic goods and advanced industrially. As industrialization swept through America, the American way of life changed. People began heading towards the cities, and continued inventing machinery. We owe all of this growth to Lincoln and his administration for initiating the construction of a transcontinental railroad.

In conclusion, I believe the country was better off at the end of Lincoln’s presidency. Although, in some respects, there was still much disagreement between the North and the South, Lincoln did his best to fix this. A civil war was inevitable, and would have happened no matter who the president was. Lincoln made most of the right decisions to lead the nation towards uniting. For this I still stand by my grade of a B+ for Abraham Lincoln.

17, the time he was. "Abraham Lincoln." //Garden of Praise//. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. . "Allen C. Guelzo | Review Essay | Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, 17.2 | The History Cooperative." //The History Cooperative//. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. []. Bernstein, Iver. //The New York City Draft Riots.// New York: Oxford University Press USA, 2001. Donald, David H., et al. //The Civil War and Reconstruction.// New York: Norton, 2001. McPherson, James M. //Battle Cry of Freedom.// New York: Ballantine Books, 1989