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Abraham Lincoln Born: February 12, 1809 - Died: April 15, 1865 Political Party: Republican Term 1: 1861 - 1865 Term 2: 1865 - assassination Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865), Andrew Johnson (1865)

Abraham Lincoln is one of our most famous presidents, and probably one of the greatests as well. Lincoln's presidency is very memorable not only because it was during the Civil War but also because of his many accomplishments. President Lincoln has exceptionally earned an A due to his outstanding efforts and successes, he reunited the Union and emancipated slaves. As our sixteenth president, Lincoln made America proud as he steered the nation through an arduous time in U.S. history.

President Lincoln's primary and most crucial goal was to save the union. After Lincoln was elected, but before his inauguration, the Southern states decided to secede from the Union and for the "Confederate States of America." He aimed to keep the Union together because seperating it would only create two weak nations instead of the already one strong progressing nation. Presdient Lincoln did achieve this goal with the help of the Union army when they won the Civil War and the Confederate states agreed to be reinstated to the United States of America. Another significant goal of Lincoln's was the freedom of slaves, which was accomplished when he established the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery was one of the major factors that caused the Civil War, and even though Lincoln told the border states that his goal was strictly to reconcile the Union, he also eagerly wanted to abolish slavery. Therefore, the Emancipation Proclamation confirmed the endless freedom of slaves in the Confederate states that were still rebelling.

Lincoln had a fairly admirable relationship with Congress, unlike a few previous presidents before him. The Republicans elected Abraham Lincoln for the presidential election of 1860 and felt very comfortable with their chosen candidate. Congress usually agreed with Lincoln in his decision-making. The only major disagreement Congress may have had with President Lincoln was his "10 Percent" Reconstructino Plan. Lincoln believed that the Southern states never legally removed themselves from the Union, and that each state could be reunited if ten percent of the voters in the presidential election of 1860 pledged allegiance to the United States and swore to accept the emancipation. Whereas, Congress felt that ten percent was not enough and thought that blacks could still be re-enslaved, thus they created the Wade-Davis Bill which required fifty percent of the state's voters to pledge allegiance and commanded stronger safeguards for emancipation. Eventually the Thirteenth Amendment, that declared the freedom of slaves, was established from this quarrel, after Lincoln's assassination. Lincoln got along well with Congress during his presidency. Together, they passed bills such as the Homstead Act, the Pacific Railroad Act, and the Morrill Tariff Act. The Homestead Act allowed a settler 160 acres of land if they lived on it for five years, fixed it up, and paid a theoretical fee of about thirty dollars. Congress also agreed with the Pacific Railroad Act assisted the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Finally, the Morrill Tariff Act overrided the low Tariff of 1857, duties were raised between five and ten percent which increased them to about the same level as the Walker Tariff of 1846.

Linconl had a very successful presidency, but his greatest success was reasonably the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation, at first, freed just the slaves in the southern states that were still rebelling, however, it later led to the abolition of slavery and the freedom of all slaves in America. This was a great accomplishment for Lincoln because it was one of his primary goals and he was proud to have successfully achieved it. Another great success of Lincoln's that had a very positive outcome was the victory of the Civil War. Lincoln heped the Union and its army conquer the Confederacy and reunite America. If Linconl and the the North had not succeeded in winning the war, the United State's history could have been completely altered.

Lincoln's most negative outcome would have to be his decisions preceding the Civial War. President Lincoln decided to reject the Crittenden amendments, stating that slavery would be prohibited north of the 36 degree 30' line but it would allow slavery in the south, below the dividing line. When he denied these amendments, all hope of compromise was gone and he knew the only way to stop the Southern states from seceding was to go to war and win. It would have been very difficult to prevent the Civil War, if it could have been prevented at all, but the war did not help anyone. Many lives were lost, southern agriculture and pride was hurt, and both the north and south were exhausted. Although Lincoln did what he thought was needed to be done for the good of the country, many of his actions were without the approval of Congress, such as increasing the size of the Federal Army, suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and other outrageous acts.

The most influential impact on the future of America that President Lincoln created was the Emancipation Proclamation which eventually ended slavery and led to the establishment of the Thirteeth Amendment as I stated earlier. With the addition of the Thirteenth Amendment also later came the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments which gave further citizenship to the blacks in America and created more equally humane rights. The proclamation not only emancipated slaves physically, it also freed many future American citizens mentally and created a more diverse culture.

In conclusion, our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, has proved to be one of the most famous presidents in American history. Lincoln has earned himself an A because of his wonderful and influential successes and accomplishments. Lincoln clearly helped the Nation by reuniting the southern states with the rest of the union and establishing the Emancipation Proclamation, because of this, America ended up better off at the end of Lincoln's presidency.

Bibliography "Abraham Lincoln -." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. .Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. //The American Pageant: a History of the Republic//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print."THE WEST - The Pacific Railway Act (1862)." //PBS//. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. [].