Abraham Lincoln Moral Leadership Essay

The American Civil War that was started due to the controversy over slavery in 1861, was won by The Union supported by President Lincoln against the Confederate states. President Lincoln’s original goal during the civil war was to reunify the nation as quickly as possible and help both sides come to an understanding. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the newly formed United States’ reconstruction era began. The Reconstruction era was put into effect by the Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. The Union’s victory in the Civil War had given African Americans a new sense of hope, devastated the southern economy, and eased the history of disunity in American political life.

He sets the atmosphere of righteousness within the North by using long, lengthy sentences and words like “dreaded” to describe how the North and the South felt about the “impending civil war”. In acknowledging the morals and humanity of the enemy, Lincoln boosts himself up showing that he is the “bigger man” essentially. Lincoln also says that the government before the Civil War tried to do nothing else “than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it [slavery]” showing everyone that the North did not try to abolish slavery but merely contain it. By that logic, the South would be the aggressor seeking to tear apart the Union by their desire for economic gains beyond what they already have. This would naturally make the audience even more eager to fight for the side of justice and

Constitution and altered it by explicitly protecting the institution of slavery. This peculiar institution was what made the Confederacy unique. Sectionalism over economic, social, political, and constitutional issues regarding slavery continued from Buchanan’s inauguration in 1857 until secession after Lincoln’s election in 1860. “The expansion of slavery into western territories provided the catalyst for the growing perceptions of northerners and southerners that they held different intentions of the republic’s future.” “In the South, loyalty to slavery and its required expansion became the hallmark of party politics as the region’s politicians—Whigs, Know-Nothing, and Democrat—competed to demonstrate their loyalty to southern rights.” This loyalty was a significant characteristic of Southern Nationalism. The flag of the Confederacy was also another symbol of Southern Nationalism.

The north compromises but later the civil war solves the problem of slavery in United States. This war decision is the key for the independence of

(Source B2) Lincoln’s proclamation was one of strategy as it aimed to abolish slavery as well as recruit those previously enslaved to help the North win the civil war. The freeing of slaves would also result in the weakening of the South’s economy since “The South’s economy was based on slavery.” (Source A). Thus the South’s ability to effectively wage a war against the Union North would have been depleted and the slaves in those areas would be freed from years of slavery, both being a dual victory for Lincoln. “Slaves, as the property of individuals and businesses, represented the largest portion of the region’s personal and corporate wealth, as cotton and land prices declined and the price of slaves soared.” (Source H). Slavery was becoming a growing concern in the initial stages of the war and Lincoln soon realized that by ending slavery he could help end the Civil war.

On September 2nd, 1862, Abraham Lincoln famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation. After that, there’s been much debate on whether Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation truly played a role in freeing the slaves with many arguments opposing or favoring this issue. In Vincent Harding’s essay, The Blood-red Ironies of God, Harding argues in his thesis that Lincoln did not help to emancipate the slaves but that rather the slaves “self-emancipated” themselves through the war. On the opposition, Allen C Guelzo’s essay, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, argues in favor of the Emancipation Proclamation and Guelzo acknowledges Lincoln for the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation. Guelzo proposes in his essay that Lincoln intended on abolishing slavery and completed this by signing the Emancipation Proclamation, crediting the Emancipation Proclamation as the most revolutionary pronouncement ever signed by an American president.

There were many events that led to the Civil war, but the election of Abraham Lincoln was one of the leading factors to the start of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was from the northern part of the country and wanted to put an end to slavery.

What was the foreign impact of the Emancipation Proclamation? The countries came to help the union because the E.P. prevented countries from supporting the confederacy because the confederacy meant support for slavery. 20. What was the domestic impact of the Emancipation Proclamation?

The process of rebuilding the South after the Civil War was a period called Reconstruction. Physical damage to people and places needed to be repaired. Former slaves needed help building free lives and securing their rights. Enemies needed to be reconciled, and a broken Union needed political repair. President Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan was intended to quickly readmit Southern states back into the Union without malice.

Calhoun addresses similar concerns to that of Henry Clay in his speech made on March 4, 1850. Calhoun believes that stirring up of the slavery issue has the potential to end the Union, and is calling for a solution to preserve the union. He proposed the question what truly endangered the union. He believed the North attempting to take away the rights of the Southerners, and the disruption of the equilibrium in government are two primary causes. He felt the North had too much power in government as there were more free states than slave states.