Essay Lincoln: American Civil War and Lincoln

Submitted By girl12friend
Words: 930
Pages: 4
Open Document
Did Abraham Lincoln Free the Slaves?
There has been much debate about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The argument is “Did Abraham Lincoln Free the Slaves”? There has been many questions as to what was the real reason for the American Civil War. Were the Slaves already in their own process of self-emancipation? Abraham Lincoln had much courage to fight for the people’s rights and slavery was keeping people from being free.
The North and the South had very different economic views. Slavery was all over the states and Lincoln understood the role slavery played in the war. The South wanted to strengthen, perpetuate and extend slavery and the North wanted to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Allen C. Guelzo argues yes to Lincoln freeing the slaves. Guelzo portrays “Lincolon as a president deeply committed to ending slavery”. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation put together with the Thirteenth Amendment laid a “firm foundation” to ending the slave system in the South. The Emancipation Proclamation was history in the making, its movement was to abolish slavery within three years. Yet as Guelzo expressed “it was best known for what it did not do”. Richard Hofstadter a historian from Columbia University stated the Lincoln” was, as always, thinking primarily of the free white worker” and was “never much troubled about the Negro.” Lincoln was and Enlightenment politician and believed in universal natural rights. It was said that the Enlightenment’s political virtues for Lincoln was “prudence”. Lincoln’s practice of politics involved the rule of prudence and as stated “obeying the dictates of prudence”. Lincoln stated that the management of the war would be “done consistently with the prudence.. which ought always to regulate the public service.” This was Lincoln’s strategy for the emancipation. Guelzo states that prudence demanded a means to an end. The means being his oath to uphold the Constitution and his near-religious reverence for the rule of law, and the ends which is the elimination of slavery. Lincoln took on a big challenge and gambled by releasing the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was an “emergency measure” a substitute for the permanent plan that would free the slaves. It limited emancipation only to certain states or parts of the states. Lincoln had the authority to free slaves.
Vincent Harding had a different view of the freedom movement. The blacks wanted desperately to be free, and when the war broke out they were convinced that it had to destroy slavery. The blacks depended much on God and they claimed that God was providing a way out of the darkness of slavery. God gave them hope. Many slaves were running away to labor sabotage and volunteering to serve in the Union armies. It was stated in this article that the Anglo-African from the North, believed that in aiding the Federal government in any way they can they would be aiding to secure their own liberty. Harding states that the Civil War created the context for self-liberating black movement which was already developed before the war. The slaves would continue to rebel from the system of slavery and many followed. Large numbers of black fugitives broke free from Virginia and the Carolinas and moved toward Richmond. The Union-held Fortress Monroe was a “freedom fort” for the fugitives and their families. Many blacks and their children were running to freedom and no matter the obstacle they would continue. They assembled at North folk, Hampton, Alexandria and Washington and others fled north to Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri. This was a black movement toward “a new history, a new life, a new beginning”. Their movement did not dramatic they kept it quiet. The commander in chief of
Show More

Related Documents: Essay Lincoln: American Civil War and Lincoln

Lincoln: American Civil War and Lincoln —the Impression Essay

Lincoln —The impression of view What should a president do for his citizen? Let the democratic rights spread across the country. Every citizen is equal and has the rights to make decisions. This is what the Abraham Lincoln wishes. This movie is set in the American Civil War. It shows how the president Lincoln pushes the Emancipation Proclamation into practice. Although it is tough, the great president lives up to his dream. At the beginning of the movie, I doubt about the reason why Lincoln…

Words 309 - Pages 2

Essay on Lincoln: American Civil War and Lincoln 16 th President

US (democrat) Vice president of Abraham Lincoln 1st president to become impeached President during reconstruction era Wanted the South back into the union 2. Abraham Lincoln 16th president of the United States (republican) Sought to end slavery and preserve the union First president to be assassinated 3. Ulysses S. Grant 18th president of the United States (republican) Union General Signed civil rights act of 1875 Major hero during Civil War 4. James Buchanan 15th president of the…

Words 802 - Pages 4

American Civil War and Lincoln Essay example

Assassination Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States of America in 1860. He was president during the Civil War which began due to a disagreement on slavery between the north and the south. Thanks to Lincoln and his never-ending determination and leadership skills, the north and the south were brought together again after four years of fighting. Lincoln’s death was not in vain because it brought the country back together and ended slavery. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican…

Words 464 - Pages 2

Lincoln: American Civil War and Amendment Essay

North victory of the Civil War. The real battle for him now is the fight against slavery. Three commissioners from the Confederacy head up to Washington City, and Lincoln is confident that he could have their surrender within a couple of weeks. But before that can happen, he is driven to pass the 13th Amendment, which would abolish slavery. The Democrats hate the amendment, and even Lincoln's liberal Republican comrades want him to delay the vote. Only President Lincoln grasps the stakes that…

Words 661 - Pages 3

Lincoln: American Civil War and Mr. Kaplan Essay

questioned an American invasion of a country he claimed was “in no way molesting, or menacing the U.S.” His vision of America is an optimistic one of reconciliation — to “help make strangers into neighbors,” in the words of this biographer, “to create sympathy between regions and nations, and, by inference, between the North and South.” The man in question — and the subject of this fascinating new book — is Abraham Lincoln, not Barack Obama, who self-consciously invoked memories of the Civil War president…

Words 1266 - Pages 6

Essay on American Civil War and Abraham Lincoln Sinner

Abraham Lincoln Sinner or Saint By: Caylah Gilbert Outline I. Introduction A. Thesis B. Sinner or saint II. History A. Family History B. Float Boat History C. Things he accomplished History III. Why Lincoln was a Good president A. slavery/mistakes B. Things he did for the country IV. Conclusion Abraham Lincoln was the nation’s greatest president. He was political genius who won’t the ending of slavery and won the civil wars. Abraham Lincoln was a…

Words 1064 - Pages 5

Lincoln: American Civil War and Dred Scott Essay

Lincoln was the head and leader of the Republicans. Lincoln’s views and ideologies guided the republican party, this includes the idea of free labor. Lincoln believed that slavery degraded labor and that slavery would ultimately drive free labor out of the territories. Lincoln as well as other fellow republicans believed in stopping the expansion of slavery would preserve the heritage of economic independence for all white Americans. Republican praised the North as a society of opportunity where…

Words 552 - Pages 3

How Did Lincoln Support Secession

Abraham Lincoln When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in the 1860s, the American Civil War was staring to take form as already seven slaveholder states had left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, and four more states joined when the war actually began. When the Civil War engulfed the nation Lincoln Swore to preserve the Union at all cost and end the secession. The war raged for four long years and, according to history.com, “Left more than 600,000 Americans dead.” This war brought…

Words 1064 - Pages 5

Why Was Abraham Lincoln Unjust

1860 Abraham Lincoln won the election with a 40% popular vote. Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861 to a crowd of 25,00 people. On November 8, 1864 President Lincoln was re-elected into office. On April 14, 1865 Lincoln was killed in Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln was unjust because he because he ended slavery and rebuild the south. However some people believe he caused the civil war. on January 1, 1863 President Lincoln signed a…

Words 426 - Pages 2

Abraham Lincoln Bystander Or Strategist Essay Final Draft

Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most influential politicians and certainly one of the best writers in American politics. Nonetheless, his carefully crafted language in works like The Gettysburg Address, his First and Second Inaugural Addresses, the Emancipation Proclamation, and his many public and private letters has been the target of both deferential praise and harsh criticism. Mark E. Neely Jr., Lincoln scholar and Pulitzer Prize winning historian, is the author of The Last Best Hope…

Words 2419 - Pages 10