Abraham Lincoln And Slavery Essay

Lincoln debates that the emancipation of slaves from the Emancipation Proclamation is making a big deal over really nothing. No slaves will be affected by the Emancipation Proclamation, because the people that have to enforce it will not enforce it. Lincoln compared it to how Pope Callixtus III excommunicated Halley’s Comet. The comet was seen as an omen of troubles to come to Pope Callixtus III so he just got rid of all of its affiliations from the church. Lincoln sees this as a chance to make it seem like a difference is being made in America with some slaves being set free but none really are. Lincoln also pointed out the problem if a mass amount of slaves started to come to the North for refuge. How could the North support all the slaves

“Lincoln vehemently opposed the expansion of slavery into new western territories and served as one of the most influential advocates of ‘free soil’” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Although Lincoln stayed neutral on the topic of the abolitionist movement during his campaign, he was against the expansion of slavery. Because of this, the South saw him as a threat and seven southern states seceded from the Union.

When President Lincoln first called for troops to put down the confederate rebellion, he made no connection between this action and an attempt to end slavery. In fact, he explicitly stated "the utmost care will be observed to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property..." At this point, slavery was not yet integral to the struggle, it was much more important for the Union to air on the side of political prudence and avoid angering loyal boarder states. However, despite this lack of political dialogue, many abolitionists, slaves, and free blacks felt the war to preserve the union could also be a war to end slavery. In the end, they were right, as military need overwhelmed potential political dangers, slaves

Abraham Lincoln was strongly anit-slavery and wanted for the civil war to be fought out to end the problems

Historically, Lincoln was mainly focused on the idea of keeping the Union unified and he felt that the only way to accomplish it was through abolishing slavery. Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and how it was the reason for the war because: “One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves… [and they were] localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest (Stanza 3).” With regard to Lincoln’s speech, he always chose his words carefully to portray the purpose of the Civil War referring that the slaves were part of the nation and all the government had a job to keep all the slavery together and not spread. On the contrary, Lincoln was against slavery because he didn’t want it to expand further and not let it spread to the newly formed state of America which was

In Virginia September,1858, he gave another speech in which he stated that he had never had the intention of bringing together the social and political equality of white and black races. He believed in having the superior role assigned to the whites (Doc 1&2). Noting that these two speeches were irreconcilable, Lincoln’s strategic way of telling the north and south what they wanted to hear conveys how his prosperous mechanism in being elected would give him the title of being a “great” leader. His reluctance for creating the Emancipation Proclamation was more for a political basis than anything else. Lincoln was afraid of losing support from the border states and the northern democrats. Lincoln did try to execute a more compromising structure of the emancipation, much like colonization and compensation. Furthermore, playing politician and bribing others manifests the great lengths he took to get the job

He talks about this with Congress many times which shows he was very concerned about this issue and he was willing to whatever is took to free the slaves. Abraham Lincoln said to Congress, “the United States ought to cooperate with any state which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such state pecuniary aid,” (Document A). Abraham Lincoln wasn’t alone on his belief that the slaves were being mistreated and a change needed to be made. Jefferson Davis was also on Abraham Lincoln’s side. Davis said to the Confederate Congress, “... several millions of human being of an inferior race, peaceful and contented laborers in their sphere, are doomed to extermination, while at the same time they are encouraged to a general assassination of their masters…”

Abraham Lincoln had a huge task as president. He had to reunify the Confederacy with the Union, which was the initial goal in the Civil War. In August of 1862 Lincoln said “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could do it without save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others, I would also do that.” That quote shows that at the beginning of the war Lincoln's main concern was reunification and any freed slaves was just an extra bonus. However, as the war raged on Lincoln’s view on the war shifted to abolition as a result of the war.

He wanted to be the one to solve the issue of slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which announced the freedom of slaves in the Confederacy. The southerners were totally against the idea of ending slavery. President Lincoln felt that not abolishing slavery could put the unity of the country in jeopardy. The southern states had even thought about forming a new country. Abraham Lincoln wanted to keep all of the states united.

The northern abolitionists may have wanted to end all slavery, but Lincoln did not, and he was in command of the Union army. He considered it his duty to put down a rebellion, and admitted that any government would put down open rebellion regardless of the reasons that began it. He repeatedly pleads with the southern states to work with him on preserving their right to use slavery, and argues that a union of states who are against the idea of a union is untenable. To him, it is a matter of preserving the Union and its collective strength by not allowing valuable territories to separate themselves of their own accord. Especially when, as he puts it, those territories worries “have no real existence”.

Even when he made it clear that he would work to prevent slavery from spreading into any new territories and showed it by declaring slavery illegal in the western U.S. territories, the South didn’t trust him in keeping his word. Furthermore, the South’s secessions led to multiple debates that erupted on whether a new U.S. territory would be a free or slave state. The people of the Confederacy went as far as to elect their own president, which was Jefferson Davis. In their mind, they probably feared that the abolition of slavery would eventually happen if it was to be excluded from territories. Lincoln had stated that he wanted to leave slavery where it already existed because he did not want to make it illegal and increase tension as saving the Union was his top priority. But, in order to keep the southern states part of America he had to

“The country has once and for all thrown off the domination of the Slaveholders” and the South realized the threat and they either had the option to secede to protect slavery, or stay in the union and watch slavery be demolished (McPherson ?). Lincoln’s stance on slavery was to Lincoln decided to “arrest the further spread of [slavery] [and it will be] in the course of ultimate extinction” (Qtd. in McPherson). The South could not handle the loss of Slavery, so they seceded because they were no longer powerful enough to protect it. Now that their influence was gone, they had the option to watch slavery get demolished or stay in the union, and they chose the

Lincoln believed slavery was "wrong but necessary." Prior to the outbreak of war, President Lincoln left the door open for the South to return. President Lincoln also reiterated to the South he would not free any slaves. Lincoln later said to the writer Horace Greeley that he would do whatever it took to preserve the Union. In a letter dated August 22, 1862, he wrote, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.

As Abraham Lincoln was elected President, many controversies stirred among the people of his country. Lincoln was a true man who saw slavery as evil but did not call himself an abolitionist. He believed the way abolitionists chose to denounce slaveholders did not fit their democratic country favoring majority rule. Though he knew slavery was morally wrong, he also knew it was up to the people to decide where they wanted to have slavery, and abolitionists interfered with that. He did not wish to preserve slavery in his country nor did he oppose those who did. His plan for the Union was to prevent the further colonization of states to include slavery in hopes that it would slowly cease to exist. To the abolitionists, Lincoln’s lack of action

Lincoln has “opposed slavery all his life” and when he was a young man, Lincoln witnessed “blacks in chains” and promised “If I ever get the chance to hit this thing, I’ll hit it hard” (Holzer). Lincoln didn’t believe in equality, but he still didn’t think it was fair to have slaves and treat them the way they were treated (Holzer). When Lincoln was first elected President back in 1860 he “pledg[ed] to do nothing with slavery in the slave states” (Holzer). Lincoln didn’t free the slaves immediately because he “believed that the country was simply not ready for it” (Holzer). He worried there would be no support “if he acted against slavery too soon” and that “Northern voters might turn against his Republican Party” (Holzer). Lincoln talked to the Cabinet about how he wanted to emancipate the slaves. The people on his Cabinet had a few concerns, but Lincoln mainly disregarded them thinking it would be fine. “The Emancipation was immediately and bitterly attacked” (Holzer). There was a “significant” loss in votes for Lincoln’s Republican Party that November (Holzer). Lincoln powered through the hate and still continued to sign the final version of the Emancipation (Holzer). The Emancipation had “freed around 200,000 slaves” and the slaves had “be[come] active participants in the movement” (Holzer). After his death, people suddenly started appreciating and agreeing with the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln