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Lincoln Letter To Greeley Essay

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During the Civil War , President Abraham Lincoln’s position on the practice of slavery had changed greatly from the start of the war to the end of it. He expresses his views on slavery through a variety of documents: both of his Inaugural Addresses, his letter to Horace Greeley and in the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Through these primary documents Lincoln demonstrates his initial feeling toward slavery as indifferent, for his priority was to keep the nation unified. As the war continued he stuck by his desire to keep the unity of the Union regardless of the state of slavery. By the end of the war, Lincoln called the practice of slavery an “offence” and that God “wills” the removal of its practice. When Lincoln first took office, he neither wanted to abolish or allow the expansion of slavery. This is demonstrated in his First Inaugural Address when it states, “ I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery” This shows he didn’t want to abolish it because he knew he didn’t have the …show more content…

Some of the changes are expressed in lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley when the text states, “ My paramount object is in the struggle to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do so and if I could save it by freeing all slaves, I would do it” This shows that his main focus was indeed on the reconnection and the strengthening of the Union and it also shows his indifference about the issue of slavery. In addition, in Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation he said, “ I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of states are, and henceforth shall be freed.” This quote is significant because it demonstrates how he had at first didn’t want to interfere with the institution of slavery, but then how he now proclaimed to set the slaves

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