Abraham Lincoln: Abolishing Slavery

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Abraham Lincoln, arguably the greatest President our country has ever had, needed to fight through great adversity in order to become the historical figure he is today. At the time Lincoln was working to abolish slavery, many people who disliked slavery often felt that slaves were not equal to white people on a social or political level. This meant that even though half of the country was against slavery, a vast majority of the country was in some way racist, in many ways including Lincoln himself. However, Lincoln had always believed that slavery was morally wrong, which ultimately led to his passion for the ending of its practice. Lincoln also faced many challenges with abolishing slavery, as his primary goal was to keep the Union intact, …show more content…
Even though Lincoln may be looked at as the key figure in abolishing slavery, there are plenty of other abolitionists and politicians who deserve credit for their vital actions. While Lincoln took a political approach to freeing slaves, some chose an approach that was more hands on. One such man was John Brown, and before being hanged for treason, helped to bring many slaves into Canada, “I intended certainly to make a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada”(Brown). Unlike Lincoln, Brown was a radical abolitionist who was willing to die for his beliefs, and while Brown may not have passed any legislation to free a large number of slaves, he did his part in freeing slaves who could not help themselves. While there are plenty of people who did similar small acts in order to free slaves, there were plenty of other politicians who played their role in passing the 13th Amendment. One of the most notable politicians was Thaddeus Stevens, a Representative from Pennsylvania was entirely for the ending of slavery. He was also in favor of total equality for black and white people on the social and political level, however in order to pass the 13th Amendment, he needed to …show more content…
While many others deserve credit for their respective roles in abolishing slavery, Lincoln played the most influential role in passing the 13th Amendment, and ultimately ending slavery. Throughout his presidency, Lincoln was looking for a way to either abolish or limit slavery in the United States. In 1863, Lincoln administered the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in rebelling states, and ultimately allowed for 200,000 former slaves to join the Union army, (Wiener). While this law did nothing to free slaves in border states, it allowed for slaves to free themselves in the southern states, and also kept loyal slave owners and abolitionists happy. However, it was not until 1865 when Lincoln truly started to push for the 13th Amendment. Lincoln wanted the 13th Amendment along with peace between the Union and the Confederacy, even though numerous people around him said it was impossible. William H. Seward repeatedly told Lincoln that it would not be possible for him to achieve both, and that he would either have to choose one or the other, however Lincoln persevered and was able to pass the 13th Amendment and find peace between the North and the South, (Lincoln). While many others were involved in the passing of the
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