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Abraham Lincoln Born: February 12, 1809 Died: April 15, 1865 Terms (2): March 4, 1861- April 15, 1865 (Assassinated) Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamlin (1st Term) Andrew Johnson (2nd Term) Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well known names in American history because of his role as president. He became president when the South was seceded from the United States of America, and did a good job during this tough time. Some great things that Lincoln did were how he handled the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, but he did a negative aspect to his presidency, like suspending habeas corpus. Overall, I believe Abraham Lincoln deserves an A-.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican to ever become president. This is probably because Republicans were united behind him, while Democrats were split into the North that supported Stephan Douglas and the South that supported John Breckinridge. John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party also drained the Democrats of the votes of border-state Whigs. This was a very important step for the new Republican party.

Lincoln’s main goal as president was to keep the Union together. When the South seceded from the United States, he was at first unsuccessful in this goal. Then, the Civil War was launched. Though the Union did badly at first, like with the loss at Bull Run, they soon recovered. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation after a significant victory at Antietam. It was written in September 1862 and put into effect on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves only in the Confederate states still at war on the effective date. Lincoln didn’t issue the document right away because he feared it would have been thought of as an act of desperation. He also put General Ulysses S. Grant as commander of all Union armies in 1864, which helped win the war. The Civil War ended slavery in America forever, though at a price of 365,000 Unions dead and 282,000 wounded.

Another one of Abraham Lincoln’s goals was expansion into the West. He supported the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted free title to 160 acres of land after it would be settled on for five years. This was responsible for rapid settlement in the Great Plains area after the Civil War ended. Lincoln also passed the Morrill Act in 1862. It granted public lands to each state that would be sold to finance agricultural and mechanical arts colleges.

One of the negative things that Abraham Lincoln did was taking away civil liberties during the Civil War. He stopped the writ of habeas corpus and also permitted military arrest and court-martial of civilian antiwar activists. This took away many freedoms for American citizens. Lincoln also spent war funds before Congress approved them. Congress supported him and often approved his actions.

In conclusion, the country was much better off with Abraham Lincoln. He probably would have done well in his second term had he not been assassinated. However, he did a good job with handling the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. He also encouraged expansion of the West and education. The only negative part of his presidency was when he took away civil liberties during the Civil War. I believe that for these reasons, Lincoln deserves the grade of an A- for his presidency.

Degregorio, William A.. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition (Complete Book of Us Presidents)//. 7 ed. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2009. Print.