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Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Political Party: Republican (1861-64) National Union Party (1864-65) Served one term but was elected for two terms dying his first year in office his second term serving a total of five years. (1861-1865)  Vice Presidents: Hannibal Hamlin 1861-1865, Andrew Johnson 1865

By all, Abraham Lincoln was a man known for his distaste of slavery. The South was happy when Lincoln was elected president because this gave them reason to leave the Union. One of the main reasons for this was slavery. In regard to slavery in the south the federal government technically could not legally “touch” slavery in the states that it existed. Because of southern secession a compromise was then brought to the table. The Critten Compromise was meant to appease the south and allow slavery below the 36 degree and 30 degree line. Lincoln openly opposed it. His rejection was the shattering of the last hope of compromise.

South Carolina and its seceding partners that were officially divided from the union attacked various union forts and such in the south. The number one attack was on Fort Sumter. If supplies were not given to the fort they would have to surrender. Lincoln’s decision to send provisions to the fort is the official start of the war. During the war in 1863 Lincolns’ Emancipation Proclamation was announced, declaring to “forever free” slaves in the confederate states. This in reality didn’t make much of a difference in the south. The Confederates felt that the emancipation should not be “inflected” on to the slaves. During this war black men were enlisted into the Union army a year before wars end. These men some free, some outlaws, had their bodies and souls invested in the war to forever end slavery. These men were seen as outlaws and were killed and beaten if caught by the confederate army. Much later the confederate army allowed black men to enter into their own army however this decision was made to late.

Many battles were fought some won by Lincoln and his Union some not. In the end however the north won their battle over slavery. In April 1865 (Lincoln’s second term in office) the battle over slavery was over. General Lee surrendered at Appomattox courthouse in Virginia. A few slaves were freed after the war was over at first but not many till much latter. A week after the war ended Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth (a pro-southern). He shot the president in the back of the head on April 14, 1865 in Ford’s theatre because of the Union victory. From this shot to the head Lincoln died with his belief that slavery is not a tolerable thing.

Abraham Lincoln deserves an A for his five years of presidency. He led the union during the Civil War. He began the process of freeing slaves and started reuniting our broken country.

Many people believe that Lincoln’s goal, when he became president was to abolish slavery. This thought is false. His main goal when he became president was to keep our country together. When the Civil war broke out he felt that he needed to abolish slavery to keep the country together. Regardless if the states “seceded” from the Union he believed they were still a part of the Union. At the end of the war the rebels became the Unions’ country men again. This ultimately achieved his goal of uniting the two halves into one nation, again.

Abraham Lincoln didn’t really have a relationship with Congress. Most of the decisions that he made during the civil war had to be pushed through very quickly. These decisions passed Congress and he used his executive power to make these decisions quickly. The greatest accomplishment of Lincoln with Congress was the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This proclamation stated that all blacks in the Confederate states were free. This proclamation was really the only decision made by Congress for Lincoln.

Lincoln’s decision to pass the Emancipation Proclamation and free the slaves in the Confederate states was the best decision during his presidency. Even though his goal wasn’t necessarily to abolish slavery, he accomplished that along with completing his goal of uniting our nation once again. His proclamation helped free the slaves in the Confederate states. If it wasn’t created who knows where we would be now.

The only negative thing Lincoln did was using his executive power to circumvent Congress and make quick decisions. These many “quick decisions” weren’t really allowed by the Constitution. So these quick decisions by some people could be considered unconstitutional.

Abraham Lincoln influenced the entire future of America during his five years as president. The slavery issue was the biggest way that he influenced our future. A few future examples could be the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments these were all created after the war ended and after he died. These amendments gave black men the right to be free, the right to citizenship, and rights to basic civil rights, and the right to vote. All of these things influenced our country further. Some people argue that because of

Lincoln’s presidency, women’s rights were later created. The women felt that, if blacks could have rights, so could they. There are too many things that Lincoln’s presidency influenced to list. These have been just a few things that his presidency affected.

Abraham Lincoln created a better country for us. He started the process of freeing slaves, was the noble president leading the union during the civil war and he brought our nation back together. All of these accomplishments created a better county to live in today.

Works Cited

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Abraham Lincoln | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abrahamlincoln>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Abraham Lincoln - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"The History Place presents Abraham Lincoln." //The History Place//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/>.