Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

This paper critically examines the Emancipation Proclamation and contemplates its effect through the cases of Plessey v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education and questions whether President Lincoln’s motive of issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was a pure moral objection to slavery. Although the Proclamation is and forever will be a progressive and positive development in American history given the abolition of slavery; I believe that the intention of issuing it was to do more with the defeating the rising Southern military rather than ending slavery due to moral reasons as hugely believed. After the Southern states ultimately withdrew from the Union, he made it clear that the United States Army was fighting to put the Union back together. President Lincoln restated this motivation in the Proclamation itself, describing it as "a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing the rebellion (of the Southern states)." The goal was to force the South to return to the Union, as they were being stripped of their labor force without which survival would become difficult for the Southerners.

President Lincoln had ideas of his own, Lincoln 's plan for Reconstruction consisted of leniency and Lincoln giving amnesty to the South. He believed that punishing the South for causing the Civil War wasn 't morally right. Only under certain conditions were Southern states allowed to enter the Union, and once again become a nation. Ten percent of southern voters must swear loyalty to the Union, they could readmit. Once the voters sore, then called the state draft a new state

The Civil War was a national devastation that had a deep impact on American society. In 1863, Lincoln proposed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the slaves would be free, though it was limited only to the rebellious states. By careful preparation of the document, Lincoln ensured that it would offer a positive impact on the Union efforts and to redefine the purpose of the civil war. The results of the emancipation continued to have an abrupt and profound effect of equality and social justice (Roark, 402). The Proclamation allowed the recruitment of freed slaves and freed African Americans as soldiers to strengthen the Union’s manpower militarily and politically to preserve it.

Lincoln states, “every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword,” to show that the war would not officially end until the soldiers experienced what the slaves dealt with. He does this in order to to show that slavery cannot end without unification of the two unions. He also alludes to the fact that the war will not end without justice being given to the slaves. To unite the nation, Lincoln used alliteration, allusion, and synecdoche in his Second Inaugural Speech. By using rhetoric, Lincoln attempts to achieve his purpose of uniting the North and South.

What were the main causes of the US Civil War？ There are many reasons cause the US Civil War. Such as economic, society and politics, I’m inclined to think they all promote the US Civil War break out. Slavery is often considered the "cause without which" the Civil War would not have been fought. However the primary issue of the war was "states rights vs. the federal government." The Confederate states felt the federal government was too controlling and that the state should be able to act more independently (like legalizing slavery when the federal government out-lawed it).

However, not everyone was as successful as they hoped to be. When the reconstruction period began after the Civil War the Republican set into motion their own plans, restoring rebellious states into the Union and finding a place in society for free slaves. However, there were two major problems standing in their way, the ex-Confederates and President Andrew Johnson. The ex-Confederates were causing trouble by starting riots and trying take political action against freed African Americans, such as during the Memphis Riot in 1866. Johnson, being a Democrat, allied himself with the ex-Confederates because he shared the same beliefs as them regarding freed slaves.

Savannah Gitchel Mrs. Hodges-Bond Cambridge US History 3 October 2016 Meeting of the Minds Dred Scott The Dred Scott v. Sandford case was a pivotal point in leading America to civil war. The Supreme Court stated that even though Scott was in a free state, he was still the property of his owner and had to remain that way. Abolitionists were angered even further by this decision, whether they wanted complete abolishment, or just to stop the spread of slavery into the North. Reversely, the south was overjoyed with the decision. This increased the sectional conflict between the North and South.

Many scholars believe the Civil War was due to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, who supported the North, causing the Southern States to split from the United States. During this period, the Southern States considered Jefferson Davis to be their President. Although the Northern Army had advantages in terms of financing and size of the army, it was their superior weapons advancements that won the war. The Southern States were mostly an agricultural economy, which limited their ability to produce weapons on a large scale. The Northern

To the masses, slavery was a social defining stance; the “peculiar institution” to some and a defining moral line to others, American life was changed depending on what view you took of slavery. No matter your stance at the time, one thing became clear: socially, politically and economically, slavery was the fabric of American success and gave birth to the Old South as we know it today. At the center of the entire institution of slavery, and central to its defense, was the economic domination it provided a young country in international markets. In the early 19th century, cotton was a popular commodity and overtook sugar as the main crop produced by slave labor. The production of cotton became the nation’s top priority; America supplied ¾ of the cotton supply to the entire world.

‘Slavery was the root cause of secession’. ‘November 6 1860, Lincoln was elected president of America which resulted in panic emerging in the South’ . The election of Lincoln as president who was a Republican leader meant that ideologies, movements and values from the North would be implemented in the South which meant the abolition of slavery. Slavery was a huge characteristic of the South as the economy; politics; social status and psychological mind-sets were influenced by the process of slavery. The southern white population then derived the idea of secession which meant the South would gain independence from Northern aggression .

The south, or “the great cotton empire”, was dependant on slavery to keep the large cotton plantations in business. They feared that if the North gained control in Congress they would

Slavery was a soft spot in the South because of the substantial value slaves had. Slaves’ value was both as labour force in the profitable cotton industry but also as tradable property and the loss of slavery would mean a massive

Sereen Qader Professor Tiffany Smith US History 1301 19 April 2017 Chapter 14 – A War for Union and Emancipation The separation of the states in the South was a response to president Abraham Lincolns election, since he was against slavery, and this was a threat to the South because they were very dependent on the industry of slaves and cotton. The separation in the South led to the development of the new government or authority known as, the Confederate States of America and was ran by Senator Jefferson Davis. The main goal for the Confederate States of America was to protect slavery and prevent the status of slaves ever becoming equal to them or superior. President Lincoln’s purpose was to prevent

The Missouri Compromise was definite attempt by the government to shove the issue out of view. By the time the Missouri Compromise was introduced, a few northern states were already in the process of abolishing slavery, as was England. The government was finally recognizing the cruelties of slavery but did not want to anger the southern plantation owners. Thus, they created the Missouri Compromise in order to ease their guilt and face the least contempt. The Missouri Compromise was only able to increase the brewing conflict of slavery between northern states and southern states.

Lincoln’s election to the presidency in 1860 aroused the Southern slave states. Those states saw the Republicans as people who were not supportive of keeping the institution of slavery alive in the South. Lincoln effectively demonstrates why the south should not fear if he were to be president. Lincoln wanted to calm the leaders of these states and keep them from seceding from the United States, so he tried to put them at ease in his “First Inaugural Address”.