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Abraham Lincoln

February 12, 1809 Hodgenville, Kentucky- April 15, 1865 Petersen House, Washington D.C.

Political Party: Whig (before 1856), Republican (from 1856)

1st Term: March 4, 1861-March 4, 1865, 2nd Term: March 4, 1865-April 15, 1865

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

Thematic Content: Abraham Lincoln’s presidency was stained by conflicting views over slavery. For many years, the Northern states had been against slavery, slowly forming an uprising and making their opinions known. The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 further reinforced the Northern United States’ view on slavery as an immoral and unethical institution. Many called for the complete abolishment. On the contrary, those residing in the south relied heavily on slavery for their livelihood, using slaves as farm hands and servants. As Americans, they felt as though slavery was one of their many rights guaranteed by the federal Constitution. If slavery were taken from them, they would surely succeed from the Union. Lincoln dealt moderately with slavery. It was not on the forefront of his platform and he only wished to stop slavery from expanding across the newly formed states. After Civil War broke out between the Union and the Confederate States of America, Lincoln declared all slaves in the succeeded states to be free from the chains of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation ensured freedom for many slaves immediately, eventually leading to the freedom of all slaves across the states. The document gave way to a new era of widespread abolishment of slavery in the United States and pushed into new grounds concerning African Americans. Under Lincoln, the House of Representatives, lawfully freeing slaves in the United States, approved the 13th Amendment to the federal Constitution. The events concerning slavery under Lincoln would promote the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, solidifying African American rights in America.

Thesis: President Lincoln took office at a time of great disunity in our nation’s history. The honest Republican from Kentucky represented a period of great reform for the United States. Moving the United States into civil war, Lincoln successfully preserved the Union, defending the role of federal government over all of the states. Refusing to believe the Confederate states had seceded, Lincoln exercised his executive powers over the states, binding them to one another with the most gruesome war in American history, the Civil War. With the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln ended slavery in the rebel states, ridding America of the immoral and inhumane issue of slavery. He inspired the nation to go forth and further abolish slavery and give African Americans the rights guaranteed to them as American citizens. Even after his assassination in 1865, Lincoln served as a martyr, providing inspiration for future unity and moral trust of America. Abraham Lincoln deserves an A, based on his preservation of the United States and efforts to end slavery.

Goals During Presidency: The ultimate goal of President Lincoln was to preserve the Union. He believed that the strength of the government should be exercised as Confederate secession was of great concern. Before taking office, Lincoln states, “I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be the Union as it was.” He strove to use complete executive power, individually and swiftly handling the Confederate rebellion. While his major goal was keeping the South bound to the Union, his greatest minor goal was to end slavery, which he successfully accomplished during and after his presidency.

Relationship with Congress: During Lincoln’s first term in presidential office, the 37th and 38th Congress resided in legislative power. In both the House and the Senate, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by a wide margin. As a Republican himself, Lincoln had a strong backing in Congress. The succession of Southern states allowed for the powers of Congress to be in the control of the North. Lincoln was able to exercise many executive powers with little problem, like the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. However, there were many that stood against him in his attempts to keep and restore the Union and to decrease slavery in America. In 1862, Lincoln took action to suspend Habeas Corpus, a right to a judge in a court of law. Many Democrats in Congress were opposed to this action, but were silenced by a Republican filibuster. In Lincoln’s second term, the 39th Congress was in session and Unionists outnumbered the Democrats. Concerning only party numbers, Lincoln had the majority. However, serving only a short term before his assassination, Lincoln did not develop a strong relationship with the 39th Congress.

Positive Action: Abraham Lincoln’s most positive action as president was the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation. Before taking office, Lincoln had been a moral man who quietly stood against slavery. However, he understood his constitutional limits and that the slavery issue was one of the states. Because preserving the Union was of highest priority, Lincoln did not want to institute slavery laws. He strove only to halt slavery in its movement across western United States. The president believed that slavery would end, however not during his administration. After the indecisive Union victory at Antietam, Lincoln found it fit to draft his first Emancipation Proclamation. On January 1, 1863, the final Emancipation Proclamation was documented and put into effect, freeing all slaves in the seceding states. The Proclamation took hold quickly, immediately freeing approximately 20,000 slaves. The document would further work to guarantee African American freedoms and rights as time went on. Following the secession of the Confederate States, Lincoln used the Emancipation Proclamation as a strategic tool, designed to block European nations from entering the war. While the Emancipation ended slavery, it was also designed to keep England and France out of the war. Both England and France were anti-slavery countries. However, they were considering entering the war to aid their allies in the south. The installment of the Emancipation Proclamation changed the cause of war to slavery. After that point, the French and British people stood against aligning with a proslavery nation, and neither European power officially joined the war. With the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln successfully blocked European aid to the South and gave blacks the freedoms and rights they deserved.

Negative Action: The most negative action that Lincoln took during his time as president was pushing the United States into a great Civil War. Originally, Lincoln sought to avoid conflict. As the South became more and more unruly, war became imminent. The Southern States had threatened to leave the Union if Lincoln, who stood strongly for federal government and believed slaves should be freed, won the election of 1860. Lincoln received a majority of the electoral vote, winning the presidency. As the nation drew further towards detachment, Lincoln sought to use only executive powers to run the war. On April 15, 1861, after attacks on Union- possessed Fort Sumter, Lincoln declared a state of insurrection. With this action, the president called 75,000 Union troops to repossess the federal facilities and the Civil War officially began. Following Lincoln's election, Union forces were sent to Virginia, where the Battle of Bull Run, on July 21, 1861, would symbolize the start of combat in the Civil War. War was a highly negative solution, becoming the most deadly war in United States history. The "War Between the States" resulted in the death or wounding of 775,638 men. The war caused a wide range of destruction, most of which was seen in Georgia and South Carolina. Even after war, tensions continued to grow with discussions concerning reconstruction and re-admittance of Confederate states into the Union. It destroyed the institution of the American family, leaving many incomplete or separated. The United States was forced to pick themselves out of ruin, burdened with debt and the loss of American people. The Civil War had a very negative impact on the American people and society as a whole. However, it was a necessary quarrel that would build strong impermeable bonds between the American people for years to come.

Influential Action: The most influential decision made by Lincoln was the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation shattered the shackles that bound African American slaves to their white counterparts. It placed many of the blacks in a state of rejoice, for they could live as free men. It was an action that would eventually free 4,000,000 slaves. Not only did the Proclamation free slaves, it set a precedent for further guaranteeing their rights. On January 31, 1865, the House of Representatives approved the 13th Amendment, backed strongly by President Lincoln. The Amendment would call for the complete abolishment of slavery, guaranteeing the outlaw of slavery and involuntary servitude. It also lead indirectly to the 14th and 15th Amendments, which gave blacks rights that were previously only guaranteed to the white man. Lyndon B. Johnson would turn to the Proclamation in the 1960s when he famously referred to the task of the document to be incomplete, using it as a catalyst to uphold equal rights for blacks. Many civil rights leaders would look to the Emancipation Proclamation in the future as a defining moment in the history of the African American race. Without Lincoln’s actions against slavery, many civil rights groups and pivotal leaders in the civil rights movement would not have had the opportunity to spread their believes and further solidify the equal placement of blacks in American society.

Conclusion: Abraham Lincoln provided the United States with incredibly valuable leadership. He was a moral man who stood against America’s evils with slavery. He took on the task of keeping the breaking Union together, allowing the United States to grow into what it has become. The president ensured the important unity of America, and even after assassination, worked to retain that unity. He was a crucial figure in the civil rights movement, starting with his Emancipation Proclamation. Though his presidency ended in death, Lincoln served as one of the most successful presidents in U.S. history. He was an enduring leader, molding the broken country into one unified nation while authorizing the recognition of African Americans as equal entities under Constitution. In short, Lincoln was a highly effective president, fostering a cooperative nation that would exhibit exemplary and moralistic values for years to come.

Works Cited:

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"American Civil War." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. .

"The Civil War." //National Parks Service//. National Parks Service, 28 Oct. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. .

"Emancipation Proclamation." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Oct. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. .

"Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation." //Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation//. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. .

Smith, Carter. "Abraham Lincoln."//Presidents: All You Need to Know//. New York: Hylas Publishing, 2006. 100-107. Print.